


these memories are for us

by lunespring



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-16 11:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16952925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunespring/pseuds/lunespring
Summary: Before they start their last year of college, Soonyoung convinces Junhui, Wonwoo and Jihoon to go on a road trip.





	these memories are for us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bittersweetwhimsy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittersweetwhimsy/gifts).



> for my mochi, happy belated birthday (i know, it's super late but love u) ♡
> 
> \- - - 
> 
> Disclaimer: I wrote this fic with the help of research only. I haven't visited South Korea yet. So I'm sorry if there are inaccuracies.

It’s past 3 o’clock in the morning when Wonwoo looks up from his notes. He doesn’t particularly remember what made him stop reading, hazy from studying for almost 2 hours straight, but there’s a part of him that believes that it’s because Soonyoung’s currently saying that he’s dying, _figuratively_ , from studying and writing an essay that’s due in 6 hours. Wonwoo knows when it was due because Soonyoung hasn’t failed to update his countdown out loud.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Soonyoung announces, ceremoniously accompanied by his notebooks flying across the dining table. Wonwoo watches his friend from the sofa – claimed it for the whole finals week.

Soonyoung drops on the floor, _literally_ and painfully, with a loud thud.

Wonwoo knows that Soonyoung is at his limit because he has diligently kept quiet and not said a word after Jihoon left to study with Seokmin. Until now. _I won’t be back tonight, don’t wait up,_ Jihoon told them about three hours prior.

“Wonwoo-ya, let’s go on a road trip,” Soonyoung says, voice muffled due to his face being pressed on the floor at the moment.

“What?” Wonwoo drops his pencil, and watches it roll under the table.

Soonyoung rolls onto his back. “A road trip,” he repeats. “After our exams.”

Wonwoo blinks at him. It’s possible that while studying Soonyoung’s brain got rewired. “We’re graduating next year,” he reminds Soonyoung. “I’m not sure if I want to spend my last summer break cramped in a car with you.”

“Rude!” Soonyoung kicks at Wonwoo, but he was too far away to even barely kick the sofa. Wonwoo grins slightly, feeling pettily triumphant. “But that’s why we should do it, you idiot!” Soonyoung moves a bit closer and attempts to kick Wonwoo again. He still missed.

“No,” Wonwoo replies without missing a beat, schooling his expression back to stoic. He moves the table to pick up his pencil then directs his attention towards his notes again.

“You haven’t even heard my plans yet!” Soonyoung complains while he stretches his limbs, effectively lying flat on the floor.

“I don’t have to hear it for me to say no.”

“It’s a good plan,” Soonyoung is on his feet now, “and you’re not letting it be heard.” He walks towards the sofa and plops on the empty spot next to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo hums, deliberately trying to ignore his friend even if he can’t comprehend any of the words he’s reading anymore.

“Listen to me,” Soonyoung tries to poke Wonwoo’s side. Wonwoo deflects his finger and catches the next one.

“I’m doing something, Soonyoung,” Wonwoo deadpans, still holding Soonyoung’s finger.

“I’m doing something too! I’m convincing you to agree with my plan!” Soonyoung successfully pokes Wonwoo’s arm, he grins victoriously while Wonwoo glares at him.

Wonwoo swats him. “Why don’t you take the younger kids instead?”

“That’s no fun at all! I’ll just end up chaperoning,” Soonyoung sticks his tongue out at Wonwoo when he pokes his arm again.

“You do know that they’re all in college,” Wonwoo counters, “actual adults?” He flips a page of his book, trying to read something else because he has been reading the same sentence for a while now.

“But we need to do something together before we graduate! All four of us!” Soonyoung argues, voice louder with his arms in the air – for emphasis, he later explains. “We don’t know what’ll happen after we graduate. None of us have permanent plans yet. Are we all moving to Seoul? Are you and Jihoon still gonna be roommates? Is Junhui gonna go back to China? Will we ever see each other again after that?”

“But Junhui _is_ going back to China,” Wonwoo blinks at the text in front of him before he takes a breath and closes the book. He looks at Soonyoung. He already knows that he’s not going to win this argument even if he tries to fight back. “You’re not gonna stop until I say yes, are you?”

“Nope!” Soonyoung’s eyes are twinkling with excitement. “I still have a lot of reasons why you should agree to this.”

Wonwoo lets out a long sigh, but decided to concede. “Fine, but you’re telling Jihoon.”

+++

“We’re what?” Junhui’s doing that thing where all his features are blown wide out like a cartoon character to show how surprised he is. Wonwoo smiles, finding his reaction adorable. _It’s always adorable_ , Wonwoo thinks to himself.

“We’re going on a road trip,” Soonyoung answers, pointing at all three of them. “All of us!”

Wonwoo was studying with Junhui when Soonyoung came into the apartment, surprisingly bubbly despite only having about 3 hours of sleep the previous night. It has been 10 minutes since then, and he has told Junhui everything he has planned for the trip – very quickly, no pauses.

Junhui’s head tilts. Wonwoo tips it the other way. “So you’re saying we can go anywhere?”

Soonyoung nods. “We can go anywhere we want to.”

“Anywhere we can _afford_ to,” Wonwoo corrects.

Junhui looks at Wonwoo, who just shrugs. There’s no talking Soonyoung out of his plan. After listening to him ramble about what he’s got in mind, it appears that he has everything set already – almost, maybe?

“Then I have to look for places to go to!” Junhui says excitedly, bringing his fingers to his lips, picking at them while in thought. “How long are we gonna be gone?”

Soonyoung grins, it’s the same smile he made when Wonwoo agreed. “So, you’re in?”

“It’d be crazy to pass on this!” Junhui smiles at Soonyoung who’s already halfway into hugging him. “I’ve been telling Wonwoo that we should go on a trip for _years._ I thought we were going to do it next year or actually never.”

“Hey, I was going to ask you soon,” Wonwoo argues.

Soonyoung pulls away from Junhui to shoot Wonwoo an accusing glare. “Why did you keep saying no when _I_ asked?”

Wonwoo shrugs, smiling. “He was more convincing.”

Soonyoung fishmouths, searching for something, anything to say to Wonwoo. Junhui laughs at him while patting his back, a poor attempt of consoling him.

+++

“No,” Jihoon says immediately, before Soonyoung’s even finished proposing the trip. “I don’t want to be stuck in a car with you three. Have you forgotten what happened last time we were in the same room for two days straight?”

“Jihoonieee,” Soonyoung drawls sweetly while wrapping his arms around Jihoon. He attempts to escape, but fails when Soonyoung clung tighter. “Come on, everyone’s in. You’ll be left alone in this apartment.”

“That’s fine,” Jihoon stops trying to remove Soonyoung off of him and brings his attention back to his laptop, resuming whatever he’s doing before Soonyoung made him look away.

Junhui sits next to Jihoon too. “It’s going to be sad if you weren’t there, you know,” he says, poking Jihoon’s arm. Wonwoo laughs when Jihoon swats both Junhui and Soonyoung. Junhui moves quickly to save the laptop from falling.

Jihoon sighs before looking at Wonwoo. “I’m still allowed to say no, right?” There’s a small smile pulling at his lips though, and Wonwoo knows he’s about to agree. It’s basically decided.

Wonwoo laughs. “They’re never going to stop.”

“Fine! I’ll go, now leave me alone to work,” Jihoon puts his headphones back on and stares at his screen, but he’s smiling. Wonwoo shakes his head while he watches Junhui and Soonyoung do a celebratory hug.

+++

The plan was to leave the morning after their last day of exams, get on the road before anyone changes their mind and decides not to leave after all. They decided (mainly Junhui and Soonyoung) that they can do a lot more stuff if they arrived in Seoul early, maybe spend the afternoon by Han River while waiting for either Joshua or Jeonghan to get off work.

But, plans change, particularly when the younger kids – Seokmin, Minghao, Mingyu, Hansol, Seungkwan and Chan – and Seungcheol, who drove all the way from Seoul for a job interview, decided that they should celebrate Junhui and Soonyoung’s birthday before they leave. Although, Wonwoo’s sure that it’s just an excuse to drink and de-stress after a whole week of hellish exams.

“LET’S GO!” Soonyoung yells when they walked out of the apartment, startling both Junhui and Jihoon.

“Soonyoung, please,” Jihoon whispers, still looking dead on his feet. Wonwoo’s positive that he’d rather be in bed than standing outside, waiting for everyone to pile into the car.

They are already 10 hours late from their originally planned departure time. The only good thing about them being late is that they won’t have to wait for Jeonghan and Joshua to get off work before they can finally settle into their apartment and get more sleep. So it’s all working out really. Even if Wonwoo and Junhui are the only ones loading their bags into the trunk while Soonyoung’s helping Jihoon climb into the back seat without falling – that’s an unlikely scenario, but he still helps him.

“I think we’ll celebrate your birthday on our way to Seoul,” Wonwoo loads another bag that he remembers that Soonyoung carried into his and Jihoon’s apartment two days ago. _I’m finished packing my first bag!_ he announced when he dropped it by the door and left.

Junhui laughs softly. “I think I’ve celebrated enough last night.”

“You say that now, but Jeonghan-hyung probably has something planned already,” Wonwoo says, and Junhui groans while he loads the last bag. Wonwoo closes the trunk.

“I just want to sleep tomorrow, the whole day,” Junhui whines, walking to the other side of the car (he called shotgun yesterday). “Save me.”

Wonwoo snorts. “I’ll do my best.”

He does a good and proper stretch before he slides into the driver’s seat. He hasn’t gone on a long drive with his friends in a while, but he knows – after spending all these years with them – that it isn’t going to be the easiest kind of trip. He expects a lot of arguing and stopping for various reasons.

“Are we ready to go? Wonwoo asks, fastening his seatbelt on. He looks at Junhui. “Does anyone have to go to the bathroom before we leave?”

Junhui narrows his eyes at him. “I don’t,” he says, “I already went to the bathroom three times before we went out.”

“Do _you_?” Soonyoung suddenly asks, and it makes Wonwoo think for a hard moment before he decided no. He’s good for now. He starts the car.

“Wait!” Junhui grabs Wonwoo’s arm so quickly, startling him. Jihoon and Soonyoung groans in the backseat. “No, I don’t have to go to the bathroom, I just –” he digs into the backpack at his feet, taking out a few packages of chips (throws most of them for Soonyoung to catch) until a Polaroid camera surfaces in his hand. “We gotta take a selfie before we go. Basic road trip rules.”

“There are no basic road trip rules,” Jihoon mutters under his breath, opening one of the bags.

Junhui shushes him before extending his arm and takes one quick snap. Wonwoo barely had time to decide if he wanted to smile or not. They’re almost out of Pohang by the time it develops; all four of them crammed in close to make the shot. Soonyoung had his hand on Jihoon’s back, pulling him closer so he won’t get cut off. Jihoon’s mouth was open, caught mid-word or mid-chew, Soonyoung’s still looking at Jihoon and Wonwoo’s eyes were mostly closed. Junhui’s the only one who turned out looking okay.

“Amazing,” Junhui says, grinning while holding it up, catching as much light from outside to see the picture. “No do overs,” he adds before anyone can start complaining. He places it on the dashboard with the camera then reaches for his phone to play the road trip playlist Jihoon prepared.

+++

“Jeonghannie-hyung!” Soonyoung leaps out of the car a soon as it stops, enveloping the older boy in a crushing hug. Jeonghan manages to steady them both while he pats the younger’s back.

“Ya! I’ve been waiting here for 10 minutes already!” Jeonghan complains when Junhui comes out of the car to hug him too. “You told me that you guys were near.”

It’s late when they arrived in Seoul, nearly midnight when they parked in front of Jeonghan and Joshua’s apartment building. It took them almost 2 hours longer than a normal trip from Pohang because Junhui had to pee a couple of times on their way. Jihoon had to stash all the drinks they brought with them away from Junhui after the fourth stop.

“We’re never gonna let Junnie drink anything while we’re on the road again,” Wonwoo says, and walks around the car to get some of the bags out of the trunk.

Junhui sticks his tongue out at him. “I only had to go so many times because I was awake the whole time!” he argues while Jeonghan grins next to him.

“Yes, that’s the only reason, Junnie,” Jihoon pipes in when he slides out of the car. Junhui whines and tells them that they’re being unfair bullies.

Wonwoo stayed behind after Jeonghan told them that they should head up to the apartment because Joshua’s waiting too. He had to move the car into a different parking space – Jeonghan and Joshua’s – which is quite far from the building’s entrance. He also had to check the bags one more time before he leaves them outside overnight to make sure nothing spoils in one of Soonyoung’s bags.

“Wonwoo-ya,” Junhui calls, making Wonwoo look up. He blinks at him. He thought Junhui already went up with the other kids. “You can do that tomorrow.”

Wonwoo hums in response and puts back the last of Soonyoung’s bags (he really brought so much stuff that Wonwoo’s wondering if he brought half of his closet). Junhui moves to shut the trunk. Wonwoo mutters a quick thanks before readjusting the bag on his shoulder.

“Let’s go, it’s getting cold.” Junhui pulls Wonwoo along with him by the hem of his sweater.

+++

“I’m so tired,” Wonwoo leans his head on Junhui’s shoulder. Junhui presses the elevator buttons. “Driving’s exhausting, Junnie.”

“I know,” Junhui pauses to yawn, making Wonwoo yawn as well, “but so is staying awake the whole time so _you_ wouldn’t fall asleep. Remind me again why I called shotgun?”

Wonwoo laughs. “ _I can stay awake the whole time, don’t worry Wonwoo,_ ” he starts, making Junhui groan.

“Shut up,” Junhui swats his arm. “I’m sleeping the whole way next time. I swear.”

“Let’s make Soonyoung drive during the whole trip,” Wonwoo suggests after stepping into the elevator cabin. He leans his whole body weight against the cold metal wall. Junhui chuckles as he clicks the third floor button. “This is his plan anyway.”

“Do you think Jihoon will take the front seat if Soonyoung’s driving?” Junhui’s voice echoes slightly in the empty hall when they step out. “I think we need to trick him into doing it.”

“We probably have to bribe him with something,” Wonwoo was about to knock on the door but an alert on his phone goes off. He fishes the device out of his pocket and smiled. He looks at Junhui who has a confused look on his face. “Happy Birthday, Junnie.”

+++

“Thank you, hyung.” Wonwoo takes another sip from the mug filled with tea that Joshua handed him. Joshua nods at him with a small smile before he leaves him in the kitchen. Wonwoo doesn’t normally drink tea, prefers coffee most of the time, but the ones Joshua makes is always nice. It’s always the exception – ever since he first made it when he was just a freshman in college and trying to survive the first six months.

“Jihoon-ah, do you need another blanket?” Wonwoo hears Joshua ask from the other room. Jihoon mumbles something Wonwoo doesn’t catch, but figures that he said no because he hears Joshua say good night shortly after.

Wonwoo leans back on his chair, straining his neck to check if the other kids are still asleep. He thinks Junhui and Soonyoung are, they’re on the comforter – makeshift futon – on the floor with Jeonghan in between them. They were fighting over who gets to sleep next to Jeonghan before they all passed out.

It didn’t really take long for them to get tired after eating the reheated takeout and the cake – a little surprise to celebrate Jun’s birthday but Jeonghan promised a better celebration tomorrow. He, on the other hand, didn’t feel tired at all. The exhaustion he felt after driving was gone. Hence, the tea.

Wonwoo picks up his phone and scrolls through Instagram. He finds the photos Junhui already posted, and smiles when he sees that Junhui included their picture together that Joshua took after Junhui blew out his candles. He needs to ask Junhui to send that one to him tomorrow.

_are u going to sleep???_ Junhui’s name pops on his phone’s screen.

Wonwoo looks over to where Junhui is supposed to be sleeping and finds him awake and the screen of his phone illuminating his face.

_have to finish my tea first~_ Wonwoo replies.

Junhui sends him a string of sad faces. But it makes Wonwoo smile.

_go back to sleep junnie_

_not going back to sleep until you’re here >:(_

Wonwoo narrows his eyes in Junhui’s general direction, he’s sure that Junhui wouldn’t be able to see him though. But he downs the rest of the tea as quickly as he can and cleans up before walking to the living room and lies down next to Junhui.

_are u happy now??_ Wonwoo types a quick message then looks at Junhui.

Junhui replies with three smiley faces. Wonwoo lets out a soft laugh after reading it. Junhui scrunches his nose at him then pulls the blanket to cover half of his face.

“Good night, Junnie,” Wonwoo tucks himself under another blanket then closes his eyes. He feels Junhui shift closer towards him. An involuntary smile forms on his lips.

+++

“Jun, you’re going to use up all your film,” Wonwoo scolds, taking away the camera from Junhui and putting it on his side of the table.

Since they arrived at the restaurant, Junhui hasn’t been able to stop taking pictures – actually, he started taking pictures the minute they stepped out of Joshua and Jeonghan’s apartment. There’s a growing pile of developed Polaroids next to his chopsticks. Wonwoo’s positive that he’ll be seeing all of those thrown in with the ones that Junhui left in the car.

Earlier this morning, Wonwoo asked Jeonghan and Joshua if they knew where they could find the best Chinese restaurant around Seoul – Wonwoo and Junhui have already planned on going to Junhui’s favorite one back in Pohang weeks before his birthday – and Jeonghan directed him to three (two of the options were three stations away while the other one’s in a walking distance). Wonwoo looked up those places on his phone and made Junhui choose the one he thought could be the best one. Junhui picked the farthest one and made Wonwoo consider taking the car but decided against it, eventually thinking that taking the train would let Junhui and him to explore the city more.

“I brought all the films Myungho gave me the other day,” Junhui says while he sorts through the pictures in front of him.

“That doesn’t mean you have to use all of it one day.”

“It’s so fun to use!” Junhui replies, completely ignoring what Wonwoo just told him. “Look at this one! It’s the cutest one I took.”

It’s the picture of the cat they saw on the way over. It wasn’t a particularly magnificent encounter; the tabby cat was perched on a low wall, sleeping. Junhui was so excited when he found the cat that Wonwoo worried that it would wake up and run away. But Wonwoo remembers the smile on Junhui’s face when he took the picture. And he can agree that it is the cutest one.

“No pictures until we’re done eating,” Wonwoo moves the camera farther away from Junhui.

“Fine,” Junhui places the pictures next to Wonwoo hands. He pouts. “I won’t touch the camera on _my_ birthday.”

Wonwoo wanted to hit Junhui’s arm for being so stubborn about it but he picked up the camera and snapped a photo of sulky Junhui instead. It took him completely off guard and he didn’t stop complaining how unfair and sneaky Wonwoo is even after the photo develops.

“We promised not to use the camera,” Junhui grumbles, trying to grab the picture from Wonwoo’s hand.

“I didn’t promise anything,” Wonwoo flashes him a smile and he continues to pout.

+++

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNNIE!” Soonyoung shouts into the microphone and everyone cheers. Wonwoo hears Junhui laugh from the opposite side of the cramped karaoke room. He shouts _thank you_ over the loud music.

For dinner, Jeonghan and Joshua brought them out to eat and properly celebrate Junhui’s 23rd birthday together with good food and drinks. Wonwoo was sure that all of them were ready to go back to the apartment and crash after eating too much. But, they moved the celebration after Soonyoung – and five bottles of soju – suggested that Junhui’s birthday celebration wouldn’t be a complete success if they didn’t go to a karaoke room and sing their hearts out.

“None of us would be getting up earlier than noon tomorrow,” Joshua says when he hands Wonwoo another drink. Wonwoo agrees. There’s no doubt that that was their foreseeable future.

He slumps in his seat and watches Soonyoung dance to a slow song that Jihoon chose to sing. Junhui joins in not long after. Wonwoo laughs and pretends to cover his eyes – not wanting to fully witness their alcohol induced performance. It was coherent, but highly inappropriate and verging on too sensual, much to Jihoon’s dismay.

“Are you okay?” Junhui asks when he takes a seat next to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo hums then rests his head on Junhui’s shoulder. “Just a bit tired.”

“You’re always tired Jeon Wonwoo,” he says while poking Wonwoo’s cheek.

“That’s true,” Wonwoo replies and hears Junhui laugh softly. “I just need to recharge for a bit then I’ll be back trying to dance again.”

“Oh, was that you already trying?” Wonwoo shoves Junhui, who’s laughing out loud now, away from him. He glares at Junhui before pulling him back next to him. “Hey! It’s still my birthday.”

“It’s,” Wonwoo clicks the power button of his phone, “1 in the morning Moon Junhwi. I’m pretty sure your birthday already ended an hour ago.” He takes Junhui’s hand and bites it. Junhui yelps. “You can’t use that anymore.”

“I told you to stop biting me!” Junhui pokes his side, making him move away. “And it’s still technically my birthday in other countries.”

Wonwoo snorts. “That doesn’t count and –”

“Junhui come on, let’s do one last song,” Jeonghan says through the microphone, effectively interrupting Wonwoo’s trail of thought.

+++

Wonwoo wakes up on the sofa, with Jihoon’s foot on his shoulder, the next day. He only has a vague memory of how they got back to the apartment, and it mainly includes being cramped in the back of the taxi and being crushed by someone. Not a particularly fun memory.

He grimaces when he tries to get up after successfully shrugging Jihoon’s foot off of him.

Everyone’s sill passed out. And it is exactly how Joshua and Wonwoo predicted their day would start after the night they had. He should’ve made a bet with Soonyoung after all. _It’ll be fine, we’re gonna get to Namyangju tomorrow morning_ , he assured everyone, eyes curving into crescents when he smiled.

Wonwoo uses his foot to nudge Soonyoung’s arm. “Ya, Soonyoung-ah. Wake up.”

Soonyoung attempts to slap away Wonwoo’s foot but hits Jihoon’s leg who, as a retaliation, kicks Soonyoung’s hand away. He didn’t seem to feel it even if he’s already half-awake. “I’ll be up in 10 minutes, I promise,” Soonyoung mumbles sleepily.

“No, you have to get up now. You’re supposed to be driving us to Namyangju today.” Wonwoo moves from his current spot to try and shake Soonyoung awake. He immediately regrets moving too much too quickly and cradles his head in his hands. “Get up.”

Soonyoung grumbles something that’s completely incoherent for Wonwoo.

“Shut up,” Jeonghan complains, tucking himself under the blanket further, “both of you.”

“Wonwoo, go back to sleep,” Junhui whispers. Wonwoo didn’t notice that he was awake until he spoke. “It’s still early.”

Wonwoo has the urge to laugh at that, but decides against it – completely sure that his headache will just get worse if he did. “It’s not early,” he mumbles. But he lies back down on the sofa again.

If none of them are going to get up, he might as well not move too.

+++

“Wake up.” Wonwoo groans when a pillow hits his face. He feels dazed from being woken up suddenly. “Get up and eat,” the person says, his brain still feels too fuzzy to recognize who that voice belongs to. “And shower, you guys smell like shit.”

“Go away, Seungcheol-ah.” _Ah_. It’s Seungcheol. Wonwoo thinks it’s Jeonghan who just spoke, but the voice sounded muffled, probably the person had a pillow covering their face _maybe._ “It’s still early.”

Wonwoo opens one of his eyes to get at least an idea of what’s happening around him. He finds Seungcheol walking to the window. He draws the curtains, and Wonwoo braces himself for the overwhelming brightness of the day but it is already dark out.

“It’s already 7 in the evening. It’s not early,” Seungcheol says, in that voice that he uses when he knows he’s the only one who’s right. “All of you, get up!”

Everyone collectively groans _and_ complains about Seungcheol’s loudness.

“I shouldn’t have given you that key,” Joshua mumbles, his words dragging lazily, before he rolls on his spot to hide his face. Wonwoo sees Seungcheol roll his eyes. “Give it back to me later.”

“Joshua, move out and live with him so I can sleep in peace,” Jeonghan whines, attempting to kick his roommate who was too far for him to reach.

“No, you move out,” Joshua replies, throwing a pillow in Jeonghan’s general direction. It didn’t even land one feet away from him. “I found this apartment. You can find your own.”

“Both of you, shut up,” Seungcheol says, peeling the blanket off Joshua, then Jeonghan. He takes a deep breath and looks at his friends. Somehow Wonwoo found himself having more respect for Seungcheol. “No one is going to move out.”

“Then go away,” Jeonghan says, moving to snatch his blanket back. Seungcheol hands it to Wonwoo. “I’m gonna sleep more.”

“No, we’re all going out to eat.”

“We’re not hungry!” Joshua whines, rolling onto his back.

Junhui raises one of his hands, scratching his eyes with the other. “I’m hungry,” he says and Wonwoo couldn’t help but laugh. Junhui’s timing is always impeccable.

Wonwoo smiles at Seungcheol when he looks at him. “Hi, hyung. Was your drive okay?”

Seungcheol shakes his head, but there’s a faint smile on his lips. He’s always going to have a soft spot for everyone even if they’re all being annoying. “Help me get them up,” he sighs.

+++

“Why did you bring us here to eat,” Jeonghan pauses and raises the bag he’s holding, “chicken?”

After Seungcheol, with the help of Wonwoo and Junhui, got everyone off the floor and shower, they drove to Han River in separate cars; Seungcheol brought the complaining kids with him then made Wonwoo and Junhui order food.

Joshua lies flat on the blanket they brought and rubs his socked feet together. “What’s the occasion? Junnie’s birthday is already done,” he asks. Wonwoo notices that his eyes were closed. “I can still feel the consequences of celebrating too much.”

Wonwoo sits closer to Junhui, purposely stealing some of his warmth. He feels Junhui shift in his spot and lean against him. Tonight’s wind still feels chilly even if it’s already summer.

Seungcheol smiles at them. He looks like an excited puppy that’s wagging its tail. It’s the complete opposite of how he looked when he was forcing them out of the apartment not three hours ago – the most tiring three hours of Wonwoo’s life. “I got the job!” he announces, and everyone stops to stare at him in complete surprise.

“Oh my god, congratulations!” Joshua says, in English, before he moves to hug Seungcheol. Soonyoung congratulates him and joins in on the hug.

Jeonghan smiles, it was his _I’m-really-proud_ smile. They’ve all been in the receiving end of that smile at one point in their college life. “Congrats, Cheol-ah,” he says.

Wonwoo and Junhui extend their hands to pat Seungcheol’s arm. They know how nervous he was the night after his interview. It was almost everything he talked about the whole time.

“You could’ve told us that at home and we could’ve just gotten food delivered,” Jihoon complains with his eyes narrowed at their eldest hyung. “You made me get out of bed.”

Seungcheol laughs when Joshua and Soonyoung grabs Jihoon, making him hug Seungcheol too. He continues to complain while the rest of them laugh.

“Ya! We’re supposed to be enjoying the view, eat chicken and pretend that we don’t have hangovers,” Jeonghan scolds, handing Junhui and Wonwoo their drinks from one the bags. “At least try to do that.”

Wonwoo feels the way Junhui’s body shake with laughter when he presses his cheek against Junhui’s shoulder then closes his eyes with a smile on his face.

It’s a good day.

+++

Soonyoung is driving them to his hometown. Wonwoo is seated up front and has complete control of the radio, but he chose to stick with Jihoon’s playlist though. Junhui and Jihoon are seated at the back – Junhui’s sitting and Jihoon’s using Junhui’s lap as his makeshift pillow.

They tried to leave Seoul early in the morning, but ended up driving off from Jeonghan and Joshua’s apartment late in the afternoon. None of them could sleep after they got back from Han River, and had to stay up late watching movies just to feel tired again.

“I’m hungry,” Junhui says suddenly.

Wonwoo turns in his seat to look at him with his eyebrows raised. “Jun-ah, we just ate before we left,” he says, counting in his head how long it has been exactly.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, “I’m hungry _again._ ”

Jihoon laughs and pokes Junhui’s stomach. “What do you want to eat?”

Soonyoung makes a shocked squawk. Wonwoo steadies the steering wheel. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”

“Don’t —” Wonwoo starts.

“I told you I wanted to buy something to drink before we left, but you said no!” Soonyoung continues to complain.

“— let go of the steering wheel, you idiot.”

Junhui hums, tapping his chin with his index finger. “I want to eat bread.”

Jihoon nods and starts typing on his phone. “Wonwoo,” he looks up from his screen, “do you still remember that small café Joshua-hyung brought us to?”

“The one with the cute barista that he never asked out?”

Soonyoung gasps. “No, Wonwoo, you’re supposed to be on _my_ side.”

“Yeah, that’s the one!” Jihoon replies excitedly. Soonyoung complains about Jihoon ignoring him. “Do you think we can go there?”

Wonwoo tries hard to remember where exactly that café was. It’s been almost a year since that day. “I think we’re close,” he hums.

“Ya! Why do you keep spoiling Junnie?”

Junhui grins, his eyes were clearly twinkling with delight. “I’m his favorite.”

“Get out of the car,” Soonyoung deadpans. He starts slowing the car down. “We don’t have room for favoritism in this car.”

“You can turn left here,” Wonwoo says, fighting the urge to laugh while Jihoon had to wipe the corner of his eyes from laughing too much. “The café is at the end of that street.”

+++

“Uncle Junnie!” Soonyoung’s nephew, Yejun, leaps from his seat and runs towards them when he sees them enter the restaurant. They’re going to celebrate Soonyoung’s birthday and his older sister’s promotion. It’s all part of Soonyoung’s itinerary. “You’re here too! You’re here too!”

“Yejun-ah!” Junhui picks up the three-year-old boy and pinches his cheek. “You’ve grown so much!” He turns to smile at Soonyoung with his eyebrows raising cheekily. “I told you guys, I’m his favorite uncle.”

“Yejun-ah, I’m supposed to be your favorite uncle!” Soonyoung pouts. Jihoon slaps his arm. “Don’t I get a hug?”

Junhui puts Yejun back down when he starts squirming and reaching for Soonyoung. He dashes towards his uncle and gives him a hug. Soonyoung starts cooing and telling his nephew how much he has missed him.

“Alright, come on. We have plenty of time to have our happy reunion,” a lady tells them. Wonwoo looks away from Yejun and Soonyoung and finds Minyoung, Soonyoung’s sister, standing a couple of feet away from them with a smile on her face. “We still have to order a lot of food.”

They all went to her and gave her a hug.

+++

“So, tell me what you guys have been up to.” Minyoung puts her chopsticks down and hands Junhui a napkin to wipe Yejun’s mouth – he insisted on sitting in between Wonwoo and Junhui before dinner. “I haven’t seen all of you in almost a year. And Soonyoung doesn’t call me anymore.”

“Hey! I call you all the time! You’re the one who’s always busy,” Soonyoung argues. He turns to his nephew who’s currently having a conversation with Junhui. “I call all the time, right Yejun-ah?”

The three-year-old looks up at the sound of his name. He blinks at his uncle, clueless to why he was called. Junhui pretends to whisper while he retells what his uncle just said. He nods eagerly while giggling. “Yes! Uncle Soonie always calls. He talks about uncle Junnie, uncle Wonwon and uncle Hoonie.”

Soonyoung grins at his sister. He won this round. “This is why I trust Yejun.”

Minyoung laughs and throws her hands in the air in surrender. “He may always be on your side but,” she motions her hands at Junhui and Wonwoo, “he loves those two the most. It’s not my fault Soonyoung-ah.”

“But you’re the one who’s raising him!” Soonyoung argues, then takes another bite. Minyoung shrugs at her little brother who continued to brood.

“Ya, Kwon Minyoung, Kwon Soonyoung,” their mother starts. “Stop arguing like children.”

Wonwoo laughs when both of them held their mother’s hands and apologized immediately — batting their eyes and smiles brighter than they have been all night. Jihoon snickers beside him, also amused with the siblings’ quick reactions.

Minyoung turns her attention to where Jihoon, who has been mostly quiet for most of the night — save for the few moments he inserted himself in on the conversation — and Wonwoo are seated when their mother finally smiled again. She asks them about their plans after college. It takes Jihoon a few seconds to respond, not really ready to answer anything about future plans at dinner. Wonwoo thinks he needs to use the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Junhui starts talking to Yejun about the recent cartoon show the child has seen on the television quietly to themselves. Wonwoo decides to join their conversation instead. It’s better than to discuss his plans after graduation.

“Which one’s your favorite character?” Wonwoo hears Junhui ask. All of his attention focused solely on Yejun. “I think my favorite one is the bunny with the pink ribbon, what do you think?”

Yejun hums, face scrunching a bit while he thinks. “The bunny’s cute, but I like the tiger the best! She’s so powerful,” he answers, then turns to Wonwoo. “Uncle Wonwon, who’s your favorite?”

Wonwoo fumbles for an answer. He has no idea what cartoon show they were talking about. He is completely blindsided. Maybe he can pretend to listen in on the adults’ conversation. But Yejun is looking at him with expectant eyes.

He scratches the back of his ear and looks at Junhui, to send a desperate distress signal. Junhui doesn’t help him and just laughs while patting Yejun’s head. Wonwoo narrows his eyes at him.

“I think,” Wonwoo starts, looking at Yejun’s eyes. He’s still waiting for Wonwoo’s answer. “I like the tiger the most too!” he tells Yejun with a great amount of enthusiasm. He quietly asks for forgiveness for the white lie.

The young boy beams at him. “She’s the best, isn’t she?” he says, then continues his conversation about the tiger with Junhui.

Junhui looks up to give Wonwoo a quick smile before giving all his attention back to the little boy who’s now waving his arms to explain what happened on the last episode he has seen. Wonwoo feels a tug in his chest, he tries to soothe it by pressing his hand on his chest but it’s still there as he watches the two converse.

+++

“Junnie,” Minyoung calls. They’ve already finished eating and they’re going on their separate ways now. Yejun and Minyoung are going back to Gwangju, and they’re going back to Soonyoung’s parents’ house. Wonwoo stops on his tracks, standing behind Junhui. “If you do go back to China after graduation, please call me. Yejun and I will go to Pohang to say goodbye.”

Junhui nods and pulls her and Yejun in a hug. “I’ll call,” he promises, then pats Yejun’s head. “I won’t leave without saying goodbye to my favorite person in this country.”

Yejun giggles and hides his face. Minyoung places a kiss on her son’s temple.

“You’re going to make sure he calls me,” Minyoung says before giving Wonwoo a hug too. “Yejun’s never going to forgive us if he doesn’t get to say goodbye to one of his favorite uncles.”

She looks at where Soonyoung and Jihoon already are — a few streets ahead of them with their parents. “Always keep an eye on him. He’s a smart kid but he’s also an idiot.”

Wonwoo laughs but promises that he will do everything she just asked. “Drive safely,” he reminds Minyoung before waving at Yejun and saying good night to them.

Junhui pinches Yejun’s cheeks before finally letting go.

They watch them drive away.

It’s quiet when it’s just the two of them walking back from the restaurant. The streets are mostly empty at this hour. Wonwoo can only hear the faint sound of the televisions coming from the houses that they happen to pass by and the sound of the soles of their shoes hitting the pavement.

Wonwoo thinks of Junhui. He thinks of what will happen next year. He wonders how much will change and how much won’t after he leaves.

He chances a glance at Junhui and sees him with his head hung low, watching his feet instead of what’s in front of him. He takes a long deep breath before putting his hand on Junhui’s elbow and pulling him closer to him. Junhui doesn’t say anything and just continues walking beside him.

“What’s so special about the tiger?” Wonwoo asks, adjusting his glasses.

Junhui looks at him, blinking his eyes. “What?”

“Yejun’s favorite character,” he replies. “What’s so special about her?”

“Oh.” Junhui licks his lips. He laughs softly. “She’s the bravest and the smartest. Everyone in her team looks up to her.”

Wonwoo nods. “Then why is the bunny your favorite?”

Junhui stops walking. Wonwoo turns around and starts walking backwards. “Are you seriously asking me about the cartoon?”

“I haven’t seen it,” Wonwoo shrugs. “I’m just curious.”

Junhui shakes his head but he’s smiling. “Well,” he starts and follows Wonwoo, “I think she’s the most reliable one. She’s not the strongest one but she supports her friends as much as she can.”

Wonwoo faces the same direction as Junhui and matches his pace. He puts an arm around Junhui’s shoulder. “You need to tell me what’s the name of this show.” Junhui elbows him lightly on the abdomen, grumbling about being made fun of. “It sounds like it’s a very interesting show,” Wonwoo speaks through the pain.

Junhui starts laughing at him. That’s all he needed, to see Junhui laugh.

+++

“I want to drink milk tea,” Junhui announces, pausing from sorting the Polaroids — favorites and not-so-favorites — he piled on the dashboard. It’s only been half an hour since they left Soonyoung’s parents’ home. He turns to Wonwoo, who’s driving today. “Wonwoo-ya, can we stop for milk tea?”

“You’re gonna want to stop to pee again,” Jihoon says, and Wonwoo agrees. There’s not a lot places where they can stop and have bathroom breaks on their drive to Anyang.

Junhui pouts at them. “But we can buy something when we’re near Anyang,” he says, looking at Wonwoo with his big round eyes. “I promise not to ask for a bathroom break.”

“I want some coffee too!” Soonyoung suddenly says, and Junhui twists in his seat so he can face almost entirely at the back to give Soonyoung a high five.

Wonwoo sighs. He catches Jihoon’s eye on the rearview mirror. They just both shrug, there’s nothing they can do about it anyway. “No one’s allowed to complain about needing to use the toilet if we get stuck in traffic.”

“We’re too soft Jeon Wonwoo,” Jihoon says, pinching Soonyoung who’s happily talking to Junhui about what else they should get. Wonwoo laughs. “Too soft.”

+++

Junhui’s the first one to come into the room after they unlocked the door, rushing to the bathroom. He had to hold it for almost half an hour because other than the rush hour traffic, the lobby’s comfort room is under maintenance.

“I’ve been waiting to nap all day,” Wonwoo says, plopping on of the beds — starfishing. Jihoon does the same on the other bed, but had enough consideration for the one who he’ll share it with, and left some space on the right side.

The room Soonyoung booked for them, with a help from Mingyu, is pretty decent considering how cheap they got it. It’s got two big beds and a sofa. Plus, there’s a convenience store across the street. Soonyoung already roped Junhui into buying him something completely useless late at night just for fun.

“We need to buy some food,” Soonyoung says, putting down the bags he’s carrying next to the bed that Wonwoo’s on. “No one’s going to nap.”

“I drove today. I get a pass.” Wonwoo lifts his head off the mattress for a few seconds to speak before grabbing a pillow and buries his face on it.

“Jihoon-ah, let’s buy food.” The other bed creaks a little. Soonyoung must have sat on it. “You said you wanted to eat something.”

Jihoon groans. “You go.”

“I don’t want to go alone,” Soonyoung whines. “Come on, I’ll buy all the food you want.” His voice softer and persuasive.

“Fuck off,” Jihoon laughs, hard, and Soonyoung complains about getting hurt. Wonwoo can only assume that Jihoon hit Soonyoung at some point. “I’m sleepy and I’m gonna take a nap.”

Soonyoung hums. “Fine, no dinner for you then.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon says, voice completely turned soft. He lifts his head to take a peek and sees Jihoon with his eyes closed with half of Soonyoung’s body draped over him and his eyes are closed too. It takes so little for them to fall asleep.

Wonwoo turns his head towards the bathroom door when he hears it open. Junhui walks out, drying his hands on his pants. He looks over at the other bed and his eyebrows scrunch together, a small wrinkle forms on his forehead. “Are they sleeping?” he asks.

“I’m sleeping,” Wonwoo replies. Junhui snorts and rolls his eyes.

Junhui walks over to the other bed and tries to poke Soonyoung’s leg. “Yeah, they’re sleeping,” he confirms before sitting on Wonwoo’s bed.

“They were fighting just now,” Wonwoo says, stretching his back, “over who’s going to buy food.”

“This wouldn’t be the first time this happened,” Junhui takes off his shoes then pokes Wonwoo’s side. Wonwoo curls a little when he did. “Now, move over.”

Wonwoo moves a little to the right before squishing his face back on the pillow.

“Are you planning to sleep with your glasses on?” Junhui asks, pointing at Wonwoo’s face.

Wonwoo raises his hand to his face to check. _Oh_. He forgot to remove it again. Junhui clicks his tongue and narrows his eyes at him. Wonwoo smiles apologetically and tries to use his best puppy eyes — they never work, mainly because he can’t really do them. But Junhui softens up and smiles even if he’s shaking his head disapprovingly.

“Can you live without me, Jeon Wonwoo?” _No_. Junhui takes off Wonwoo’s glasses then folds it properly before putting it on the nightstand. Wonwoo just stares at him, breaths a bit uneven. He finds it harder to breathe when Junhui’s nose scrunches a little while he’s looking at his phone. “Myungho says he’s gonna be late. He’s gonna go to this art gallery,” he relays the message from Minghao, who is staying with Mingyu and his family for the whole summer vacation.

Wonwoo clears his throat. _Breathe_. “Oh, he’s going alone?”

Junhui nods, eyes not leaving his phone’s screen. “Mingyu’s not getting off work until closing time today. Do you think we should get him dinner too?”

“Tell him we’re going,” Wonwoo says, words leaving his lips faster than he anticipated.

“What?” Junhui looks up from his phone.

“Tell Myungho that we’re going with him,” he repeats, slower.

“Are you sure?” Junhui blinks at him, “Do you really want to go?”

“Why not? Wonwoo asks. Junhui continues to stare at him like he’s grown a second head. Maybe he did, he just didn’t notice it. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, starting to feel something stirring in his chest again.

“Nothing!” Junhui replies, but he presses the back of his hand on Wonwoo’s forehead. “Are you feeling well? You don’t normally offer to go to places like this.”

“I feel fine.” Wonwoo pushes Junhui’s hand away. “Also, aren’t we supposed to do things that we don’t normally do on this trip?”

Junhui hums. He puts his hand on the bed, right next to Wonwoo’s. “You know, you can tell me if you like Myungho, I’ll —”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Wonwoo interrupts, propping himself up using his elbow. He pokes Junhui’s cheek.

“— understand. I mean I would’ve preferred if you had a crush on me but —”

“Moon Junhwi,” Wonwoo starts.

“— if you like him more than me then I guess —”

“Stop,” Wonwoo grabs Junhui’s hand and places it over his mouth, “stop talking, you idiot.”

There’s a mischievous twinkle in Junhui’s eyes when Wonwoo looks at them. Junhui laughs under his hand. Wonwoo shifts his position and leans half of his body on top of Junhui and he continues to laugh.

“The way your face changed when I started talking about it,” he says in between his laughs after removing his hand from his face. “You should’ve seen it!”

“Shut up,” Wonwoo bites Junhui’s hand. He feigns a glare that only made Junhui giggle some more. “I can’t believe you actually thought that that’s funny.”

Junhui bites his lower lip, a poor attempt to stop himself from laughing again. “It is _very_ funny for me,” he says, his body shaking a little from all the laughter.

Wonwoo shakes his head, but there’s a small smile forming on his lips. “You’re really ridiculous,” he says, poking Junhui’s chest lightly. “I’m running out of reasons why I should stay friends with you.”

“You completely fell in love with me when you first met me!” Junhui smiles proudly. Wonwoo snorts out an unexpected laugh. “How dare you laugh at me, Jeon Wonwoo!”

“You know what, I’m leaving,” Wonwoo continues to laugh, but starts to remove himself off Junhui. He grabs Wonwoo’s hand. Wonwoo thinks his breathing started to become uneven again when he sees Junhui looking at him, not laughing anymore. “Jun-ah,” he says, voice soft and low.

Wonwoo feels the way Junhui’s ribs expand when he takes a deep breath. It makes Wonwoo want to breathe as much as he did, but he _can’t_. His eyes flicker down to Junhui’s lips, watching them as he nibbles on the bottom one. Junhui only does this when he’s nervous. Wonwoo feels nervous too.

“I –” whatever Junhui was about to say gets forgotten before they even leave his lips when his phone rings. Wonwoo didn’t want Junhui to pick it up but he did. “It’s just Myungho.”

Wonwoo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Yeah, you can answer it.”

“Hey,” Junhui says, answering the call. He’s still looking at Wonwoo. “Okay, I’ll ask Wonwoo if he knows that place.” Wonwoo rolls onto his back and hopes for his heart to stop pounding on his chest. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll see you.”

Wonwoo looks up at Junhui when he puts the phone down. He waits for him to speak.

“He gave me the address,” Junhui says, he’s fiddling with his hands.

“Okay,” Wonwoo breathes, he gets up from the bed. “I’ll just go out for a bit.”

Junhui nods. “Okay.”

+++

“Are you two okay?” Minghao nudges Wonwoo’s arm with his elbow. Wonwoo looks up from the pack of ramyeon in his hand. They went straight to the grocery store after going to the art gallery to buy some food. Minghao nudges him again when he doesn’t answer him. “Are you and Junnie-hyung okay?” he repeats.

“We’re,” Wonwoo clears his throat, “we’re fine. We’re completely fine.”

Minghao takes the pack from Wonwoo and gets four more before putting them into the cart he’s been wheeling around the store. “Are you sure?” he asks, looking at the shelf and contemplates if he needed to get more.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo replies. He knows he sounds unsure, he _is_ , but he doesn’t want to be. “There’s no reason why we wouldn’t be,” he lies.

“I don’t know,” Minghao says, grabbing two more packs. He looks at Wonwoo. “You’re over there and well, he’s all the way over there.”

“We’re allowed to shop on different parts of the store.” Wonwoo stumbles a little when he spoke. He looks over his shoulder and finds Junhui looking at drinks, picking at his lips. He’s probably going to buy a lot more than they can drink tonight.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Minghao clicks his tongue. “You two have been weird since we were in the gallery. Jun-hyung noticed that you were staring at one of the paintings for a long time —”

“It was a really good painting,” Wonwoo defends.

“— _but_ ,” he breathes, “he told me to go talk to you instead of going himself.”

“I don’t,” Wonwoo sighs. “I don’t know what to tell you, Myungho-ya.”

“You two have clearly been ignoring each other,” Minghao points out. Wonwoo scratches the back of his ear. He doesn’t really know what to say.

“We really need to go,” Junhui tells them, suddenly appearing next to Wonwoo. “Soonyoung’s been texting me every three minutes. I feel like Jihoon’s two to four minutes away from calling me.”

“They’re not going to starve to death,” Wonwoo huffs under his breath. He clears his throat, looking at Minghao before turning to Junhui. “Are you ready to go?”

Junhui stares at him for a moment. “Yeah,” he replies, “yeah, let’s go.”

+++

Wonwoo runs into Junhui who was also supposed to use the bathroom. He’s holding his toothbrush on one hand and a towel on the other. Wonwoo needs to use the toilet because he drank a few more bottles of the milk tea drinks that Junhui bought — way more than they could’ve finished as he expected.

“You can go first,” Junhui says, stepping away from the door.

Wonwoo wants to say something else, but he can’t find the right words. And his bladder about to explode doesn’t help with the thinking process. “Thanks,” he says instead before closing the door behind him.

He’s feels like an idiot.

+++

Wonwoo woke up early this morning. It wasn’t really _that_ early, but it was early enough that all his friends were still asleep — sound asleep — on the beds while his back was aching because he had to sleep on the sofa. He lost to everyone when they played rock, paper and scissors so it was a fair decision. But that doesn’t make sleeping on a sofa that is barely long enough to fit his whole body less uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong with you? Jihoon asks, placing his freshly brewed cup of coffee down on the table. It took Wonwoo a lot of tries and promises to convince Jihoon to get out of bed and eat with him.

Wonwoo sips coffee from his own cup. “Nothing’s wrong,” he replies, and Jihoon looks at him pointedly. “Shut up.”

Jihoon takes a bite from the muffin he ordered. “There’s something,” he chews, “wrong with you.”

Wonwoo hands him a tissue. Jihoon’s been spending too much time eating with Soonyoung. He’s been mimicking their friend’s eating habits a lot these days. “Why do you have to assume that there’s something wrong with me?” he asks.

“Because,” Jihoon swallows, “you asked me to go out and eat breakfast.”

“We always eat together,” he points out. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

Jihoon puts the muffin down then narrows his eyes at Wonwoo. It makes Wonwoo want to get up and leave because it’s Jihoon’s _you-can’t-lie-to-me_ look.

“Not now,” Wonwoo breathes out. He decides that that answer is better than to completely lie again. “Just, not yet.”

Jihoon stares at him for another second before he nods and picks up his muffin again. “So, what are we gonna do today? I don’t think Soonyoung and Junnie have anything planned today?”

“I just wanted breakfast,” Wonwoo replies.

“Okay,” Jihoon nods. “Then what about after breakfast? We should do something.”

Wonwoo makes a mental note to remember that he has to thank Jihoon later when he finally sorts everything out (hopefully).

He hums, picking up his cup. “We should get Soonyoung a cake.”

+++

At some point in the night, after so many to drink, Mingyu managed to convince Soonyoung to eat half of the birthday cake that Wonwoo and Jihoon bought that morning. So everyone in the room is loud, laughing and cheering for their friend — Wonwoo worried that someone would come and kick them out of their room. Thankfully, no one did.

“I don’t think I can eat anymore,” Soonyoung says, putting his fork down and burps. He has icing on the corner of his lips. Junhui wipes it off for him.

“Alright that’s enough.” Jihoon takes the cake away from Soonyoung and hands it to Minghao. “You already ate more than half of it.”

“Drink some water,” Wonwoo helps him drink from a paper cup. “I can’t believe you really went with Mingyu’s dare.” Soonyoung grins up at him. Wonwoo pats his head.

“Junnie-ya!” Soonyoung says, _yells,_ when he sees Junhui coming out of the bathroom. “Can I be your favorite today?”

“Yes, you’re my favorite today,” Junhui sits next to Soonyoung and wraps his arm around him. Soonyoung does a little happy dance before clinging to Junhui. “No more drinking, okay?” Soonyoung nods.

“What do you want to do next hyung?” Mingyu asks. Minghao has to help him sit up because he’s probably almost as drunk as Soonyoung. They were the ones who challenged each other who can finish the most drinks in under three minutes an hour into their little party.

Soonyoung opted to stay in the room and celebrate his birthday as minimally festive as they can. This is the simplest they can do for him. Take outs of his favorite dishes, a few bottles of alcoholic beverages, a cake, and them.

“I want,” Soonyoung hums. “I want to eat some chicken!” he gasps, as if he’s just thought of the greatest idea. He grabs Wonwoo’s hand. “Wonwoo-ya! Let’s buy one, no three, chickens!”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “I can’t drive,” he replies. He really can’t because he’s had a few to drink too. He may not be as drunk, but he knows what he can or cannot do.

“Yes you can!” Soonyoung looks at Junhui. “Junnie, he can drive, right?”

“Soonyoung —”

“I can drive,” Minghao volunteers. He hasn’t had any to drink tonight because he doesn’t like drinking soju or beer, so Wonwoo hands him the keys with confidence. It’s safe if it’s Minghao.

“Let’s get chicken!” Soonyoung cheers. Jihoon places his hand over Soonyoung’s mouth because his voice was too loud.

It’s going to be fun to tell him all about this tomorrow, when he’s sober and suffering.

+++

“Do you think,” Soonyoung’s voice sounds a bit airy and funny because his cheek is squished against the sofa cushion, “we can still celebrate Christmas and New Year’s together even after we graduate?”

No one answers. It’s quiet. The hum of the air conditioning and the faint sound of their breathing are the only things they can hear. Wonwoo just looks at Soonyoung who has his eyes half-closed.

It’s been a few hours — maybe three, if Wonwoo thinks about it — since Soonyoung demanded that they should go out and eat chicken. There’s a hint of light already appearing in the sky if you look outside the window. Mingyu and Minghao are passed out on one of the beds but the four of them are awake and a bit sober.

Wonwoo, Junhui and Jihoon are sharing the bed closest to the sofa, limbs tangled together but comfortable enough.

“I don’t know,” Junhui answers eventually. Wonwoo looks at him, but he can only see Junhui’s back. He wonders what kind of face Junhui’s making now. Maybe if he can see it, he can understand his answer better.

“We don’t even know if we’re gonna graduate.” Jihoon kicks his leg over to Soonyoung and laughs softly when it he couldn’t reach it. “Why are you thinking about stuff like that?”

Soonyoung pouts. “Junnie’s leaving after we graduate.”

Wonwoo wishes that they’re discussing about what they should do tomorrow instead. “We shouldn’t be thinking about this,” he says. “We still have a whole year to figure that out.”

“But that’s —”

“I promised Yejun that I’d try to fly back and visit him every year,” Junhui says, interrupting what Soonyoung was about to say. “But I don’t know if I can really do that.”

“No!” Soonyoung sits up so quickly that the sofa moved a few inches. Wonwoo thought he was going to fall over. Jihoon must have too because both his arms were extended towards Soonyoung. “I can’t accept that. You should come home every year. We’re your family too.”

“Soonyoung-ah,” Jihoon starts, resting his arms on the bed again, “plane tickets aren’t cheap.”

“Then we’ll all pitch in!” Soonyoung claps his hands together. “We’ll fly Junnie here and we’ll spend Christmas and New Year’s together. Like we’ve been doing the past four years.”

No one answers. It’s quiet. Wonwoo wonders what kind of face Junhui is making. Again.

“Does anyone disagree?” Jihoon asks, a few seconds later when Soonyoung’s smile began to turn into a frown. No one says anything. “Okay then, we’ll fly Junnie to Korea every year.”

Soonyoung brightens up. He lies back down on the sofa, squishing his cheek against the cushion again. “We’re doing this, it’s a good plan,” he says, then closes his eyes.

The plan would be better if it doesn’t include Junhui not being in the same country as them for 351 days every year. But it’s selfish of him to think like that. So he doesn’t say anything. It’s better if he just kept that to himself.

“Do you think we’ll still eat crappy food at Christmas Eve?” Soonyoung suddenly asks, startling the three of them. They all thought he already fell asleep. Soonyoung snorts. “I remember that one time we ate the worst bibimbap on this planet.”

They all laugh at the memory. Soonyoung bought it from this convenience store that was close to closing on Christmas Eve when they were still first years, thinking that it probably won’t be that bad. But it still remains as the worst meal they had together.

+++

_Check your bag later. I left a new set of films and a marker there for you because I know you’ve been sorting your pictures. I’m sorry Junnie_. Wonwoo texts him, pocketing his phone immediately after hitting send because he doesn’t know if he made the right decision. He’s aware that he can’t physically hide himself away from Junhui when he reads the text, but pretending that he’s able to avoid Junhui by hiding his phone is enough.

“Okay,” Wonwoo clears his throat, getting off the bed. Junhui’s the only one who looks up from his phone, but he doesn’t say anything about the text. He’s standing by the door. “I’ll drop these two off at Mingyu’s house,” he says, motioning his hand at Mingyu and Minghao who are already on their way out.

“We’ll see you guys when we get back,” Junhui says, pulling them both for a hug.

“Hyung,” Mingyu whines, “why can’t we just go with you?”

Wonwoo flicks his forehead and ushers him out of the door. “You have a job to go to tomorrow and you can’t miss another day.”

“And there won’t be enough room in the car,” Minghao says, patting Mingyu’s back. Soonyoung and Jihoon, who are still in bed, agree while Mingyu continues to whine about no one inviting him to be part of this trip. “Come on we need to go. You need to shower.”

“Drive safe,” Junhui says. Wonwoo looks at him and nods.

+++

“It was my birthday yesterday and I deserve to eat great homemade food,” Soonyoung frowns. He still hasn’t forgiven Wonwoo for being late yesterday because Mingyu’s mom made him stay for lunch. He refused to leave Anyang unless they go to Mingyu’s. Wonwoo was only able to drive out of the parking lot after Jihoon promised him that they can eat whatever he wants later.

“Please stop complaining or I’ll throw you out the car,” Jihoon says, sagging in his seat. He’s massaging his temple. “We’re going to Wonwoo’s house and his mom makes great food too.”

Soonyoung’s eyes immediately lights up brightly. He grins at Wonwoo. “That’s right! I need to call her and ask what she’ll cook for us. Maybe I can slip a few requests.”

“Boundaries, Kwon Soonyoung,” Wonwoo reminds him. “Besides you don’t have her number and you’re not getting it from me.”

“Yes, I do,” Soonyoung scrolls through his phone, his eyebrows scrunching the longer he scrolls. “Did she change her number? Junnie do you have her new number?”

“Can we talk about anything else other than my mom’s number —”

“I think I do,” Junhui replies.

“— or not, let’s continue talking about it,” Wonwoo sighs.

Soonyoung swats Wonwoo’s arm. “How come Junnie’s the only one who has her number?” he twists his seat, yanking the seatbelt all the way so he can face Junhui. “When did he give it to you?”

“Uh,” Junhui says, blinking at him. “She called me last week to wish me good luck on my exams.” Soonyoung gasps and swats Wonwoo’s arm again. Wonwoo hits him back this time and tells him that he’s driving.

“She calls him more than she calls me,” Wonwoo says, eyes not leaving the road. There’s traffic ahead of them. “I mean she calls me every week, but I think she calls Junnie two times a week. He’s her favorite son apparently.”

“She only calls me because she wants to check on you again,” Junhui replies, putting his phone away. Soonyoung tries to grab it but Jihoon swats his hand away.

“Don’t worry, your mom messages me a lot. I think I’m her favorite son.” Wonwoo glances on the rearview mirror and sees Junhui smiling. He smiles too.

Jihoon hums, tapping his hand on the back of Wonwoo’s seat. “So, are you two okay now?”

“Wait,” Soonyoung pauses and puts his phone down. He looks at his friends. “Who’s not okay?”

“Pay attention once in a while,” Jihoon sighs.

“I do pay attention, you idiot,” he replies. He looks at Wonwoo then Junhui with his eyebrows scrunched. “When were you two not okay?”

“We’re okay,” Wonwoo says. “We’re completely fine.”

Soonyoung turns to look at Junhui again. “What did you two fight about?”

+++

They’re driving through a road that’s in a mostly uninhabited area outside of a small town when the car’s engine stops working. Wonwoo pulls over to the side of the road.

“Shit,” he gets out of the car and rushes to the front. He pops open the hood and smoke comes out from under it. He curses under his breath. “I should’ve known this was gonna happen sooner or later. I just hoped it wouldn’t happen in the middle of nowhere.”

Junhui comes out of the car. He walks over to where Wonwoo is. “Okay, calm down,” he says, placing his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders. It relaxes a bit upon contact. “We’ll call someone and get some help.”

“Where are we?” Jihoon asks when he gets out to check what happened. He fans himself with his hand.

“Far from the city,” Soonyoung answers, looking around. The road they’re stuck in is next to a mountain. “That’s for sure.”

“I think we’re in Wanju,” Junhui says, holding up his phone. Wonwoo squints to read the map. “I think it’s better if we could ask someone where we are exactly. But we’re somewhere in Wanju.”

Soonyoung nods. “We passed by a store not far from here,” he says, turning around towards the direction where they came from. “Maybe I can get someone help us. But try calling, alright?”

Jihoon was already dialing on his phone even before Soonyoung can run back. Wonwoo steps away from the car and closes his eyes, rubbing his forehead. He takes a deep breath and starts dialing on his phone too.

“Hey,” Junhui stands next to him. He looks at him but says nothing, waiting for an answer on the other line. “We’re okay. We’ll get the car fixed.”

“I’m not getting through anything,” he takes his phone away from his ear. He takes a deep breath. “We’re not even halfway to Changwon.”

“We’ll get there,” Junhui says. Wonwoo nods, calming down a bit. “For now, we need to find somewhere to stay for a while.”

“And somewhere to eat,” Jihoon says. He still has his phone pressed to his ear.

Junhui looks over to where Jihoon is and nods. “Find somewhere to eat too because I don’t want to deal with grumpy Jihoon.”

Wonwoo snorts. “He’s going to be grumpy anyway. He promised that Soonyoung can choose whatever he wants to eat today.”

It’s quiet for a few seconds. It’s just the two of them standing next to each other. Wonwoo wants to say something funny, but he can’t think of anything that’s appropriate for that exact moment.

“I’m sorry,” Junhui whispers. “I didn’t want it to be awkward…I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s —”

“Hey!” Jihoon calls, waving his hand at their direction. “Soonyoung said that he’ll be back with someone who can take the car to a shop to get it checked not far from here.”

Junhui visibly relaxes beside him. Wonwoo puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll say sorry for how I reacted after, but I won’t say sorry for what could’ve happened,” he says before walking back to the car.

+++

“It has to be this one, right?” Soonyoung asks while tapping on his phone. They found a small hostel not far from the shop where they left the car — they didn’t really need to leave the car, but they decided to stay in Wanju for at least a night. There’s a small restaurant on the first floor so Jihoon was pretty much sold the moment they stepped into the building. “The one that the uncle was talking about earlier?”

Junhui leans closer to see what Soonyoung’s doing on his phone. “No,” he takes the phone and types, “I think it’s this one.”

“Do you know what they’re talking about?” Wonwoo looks up at Jihoon who’s on the single bed. He won the spot (and two extra pillows) fair and square — through a serious round of the frypan game. The three of them are lying on a futon. It’s the best room they could get in such short notice.

Jihoon puts his phone down to look at their friends and shrugs. “I have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. But when did we ever understand these two?”

Wonwoo agrees. There’s a reason why they decided to live together while Junhui and Soonyoung moved into their own apartment when they left the university’s dormitories on their second year. It just works better that way. It would’ve been total chaos if he decided to live with Soonyoung instead of Jihoon. He imagined living with Junhui, but he never got a clear picture on how that would’ve turned out.

“That’s the one! It’s the perfect place to go on a hike!” Junhui and Soonyoung practically bounces while lying down. Wonwoo groans when he accidently gets elbowed. Junhui turns to him quickly and hugs him, apologizing. He groans again after getting crushed. “I’m sorry!” Junhui says, laughing at Wonwoo.

“You shouldn’t laugh at someone who just got hurt,” Wonwoo points out, soothing the portion of his abdomen that got hit. Junhui smiles at him while patting his head.

“A hike?” Jihoon asks over Wonwoo and Junhui’s conversation. He places his phone somewhere on the bed to give his full attention to what his friends are doing. “Who says we’re going on a hike?”

“I think it’s a good idea. We don’t normally go on road trip,” Junhui says, handing Soonyoung’s phone to Jihoon. “We’re already here. We should try doing something we won’t normally do.” Wonwoo looks at Junhui, remembering the night he said that to him. Junhui smiles at him.

“The uncle promised that it’s a good spot, a lot of people go there this time of the year,” Soonyoung chimes in. “It’ll be great. We just have to wake up really early to get a good start.”

Jihoon snorts. “That’s the problem, we never wake up early. We’ll never finish that hike.”

“You’re already thinking about failing!” Soonyoung smacks Jihoon’s leg. “We have to at least try! Even if takes us the whole day. We’re here to make memories.”

Wonwoo laughs when Jihoon tries to hit Soonyoung back, but he rolls away from Jihoon’s foot and tells him off for wanting to hurt his friends. Junhui extends both of his arms to stop Jihoon and Soonyoung from hitting each other again.

Jihoon relents eventually. “Did you even pack clothes for hiking?” he asks.

“Clothes for hiking…,” Soonyoung starts, staring at Jihoon with a puzzled look on his face. “I can wear a pair of shorts and a shirt. I’ll be good to go.”

“You’re really something else Kwon Soonyoung,” Jihoon mumbles under his breath, a small smile forming on his lips. He lies back down on the bed.

Junhui and Soonyoung continue talking about the mountain they’re going to climb tomorrow morning with Jihoon. Wonwoo, on the other hand, leans closer towards Junhui and shuts his eyes. He presses his forehead on Junhui’s shoulder and puts an arm around Junhui’s waist. He just listens. He listens to his friends bickering about what else they’re going to do tomorrow. He listens and tries to ignore the quick pace of his heartbeat. Until he falls asleep.

+++

Wonwoo wakes up to the sound of an alarm, accompanied by an incessant vibration. He groans when he turns and feels the phone ringing under his arm. They used his phone to set the alarm.

“Jackasses,” Wonwoo grumbles.

It’s five thirty in the morning and he has no plans on moving yet. But, another alarm goes off. Wonwoo is about to look for the other phone but finds himself in a bit of a situation because his legs are tangled with Junhui’s under the one extra blanket that Soonyoung asked from the owner. _It’s warm, we’re not gonna use it_ , he’d told them. He’s currently hogging the other blanket.

Wonwoo sits up slowly and reaches for the phone that’s ringing in between Junhui and Soonyoung, planning on snoozing the alarm.

“Wonwoo-ya?” He stops moving and looks at Junhui who has only one eye open. “Why are you already awake? And,” he looks at Wonwoo’s hand, “what are you doing?”

Wonwoo blinks at him then complains, “there were two alarms.”

“Is it morning already?” Junhui asks, reaching for his phone. He checks the time then hums to himself. “We have to get up.”

“I’m not getting up,” Wonwoo huffs, rolling back to his spot. “It’s too early. No one wakes up this early.”

Junhui runs his hand through his fair before sitting up. He looks at Wonwoo and pokes him. “Come on,” he yawns, “we don’t need Jihoon telling us that he told us so the whole day.”

“You can start waking them up,” Wonwoo yawns too, pulling at the blanket with every bit of intention to go back to sleep. “I’m not gonna stop you.”

“Ya, Jeon Wonwoo,” Junhui says. Wonwoo ignores him and closes his eyes. “Get up.”

Wonwoo groans when Junhui sprawls half of his body on top of him — crushing Wonwoo under most of his weight. “Moon Junhwi, I’m trying to go back to sleep,” he complains, but doesn’t really bother trying to remove Junhui. “Get off of me.”

“No, you woke me up,” he puts another leg over Wonwoo, adding more weight. “You’re not allowed to go back to sleep.”

“Junnie,” Wonwoo starts but gets interrupted by the third alarm. He looks around and sees that it’s his phone again. “Alright, I’m up,” he grumbles. Junhui cheers.

+++

Wonwoo turns around when he hears the whirr of Junhui’s camera. There’s a faint smile on his lips while he’s looking at the picture that’s developing in his hand. When Junhui notices that he’s looking, he immediately hides his face behind the camera again.

“Alright,” Soonyoung pants, placing his hand on his hip. “I’m gonna start going to the gym with Myungho and Mingyu when we get back.”

Jihoon bursts out laughing from where he’s standing; he’s a few feet ahead of them, and he’s surprisingly cheerful at 10 in the morning. Junhui puts his camera down and looks at Soonyoung like it’s he’s someone who he couldn’t recognize. Wonwoo just shakes his head, laughing to himself.

“Please let me be there when you start regretting this decision,” Jihoon says, jogging back to where Soonyoung is and pats his shoulder. “You have to promise me.”

Soonyoung shrugs Jihoon’s hand off his of him. “You’re all mean,” he says, glaring at them.

It’s been roughly three hours since they started their trek up the mountain, and roughly thirty minutes since they passed the marker that says they’re halfway to the top. Soonyoung has attempted to go back and get something to eat instead of continuing, but Junhui successfully stopped him all three times.

“I’ll buy dinner for everyone if he doesn’t quit after one session,” Wonwoo offers. Soonyoung jogs towards him and punches his arm, then curses at him.

“He’d do at least two sessions,” Junhui adds, fanning the newly taken picture to help it develop quicker. Wonwoo doesn’t know when he took it.

Jihoon raises his hand. “Okay, I’m gonna buy dinner for two nights,” he says, “if he doesn’t quit after the second session.”

“You,” Soonyoung points at Jihoon, “are an ass. And you,” at Wonwoo, “are a piece of shit and,” at Junhui, “ _you_ shouldn’t be supporting these two, they’re evil.”

Junhui puts his camera down again and says, “I can be evil you know.”

“No, you’re too nice,” Soonyoung replies, turning to Junhui but he’s already jogging ahead of them. “You’ve corrupted my Junnie.”

Jihoon snorts. “You introduced him to us. It’s your fault.”

Wonwoo agrees with Jihoon but he doesn’t say anything more. There’s enough argument left between those two without him contributing. So, he jogs after Junhui.

+++

Wonwoo leans his weight against the railing. Everything is completely different from all the way up there — especially the smell of the air. It’s the first thing he noticed when they reached the top, and he wishes the air always smells like this.

“It’s beautiful,” Junhui says, walking over to where Wonwoo is.

Wonwoo smiles. It’s breathtaking. “It is,” he replies.

Junhui raises his camera again and takes a picture. Wonwoo looks at him and finds it pointed at him. “It’s going to turn out great,” Junhui says, waiting for the picture to develop. “I’m getting really good at using this camera.”

+++

“Didn’t anyone bother checking the weather forecast before we left?” Jihoon grumbles, using his arm to shield himself from the rain which inconveniently started while they were on their way down. Wonwoo doesn’t really see the point anymore seeing they’re all drenched already.

Wonwoo shakes his head a bit in an attempt to get rid of the new droplets on his hair. “I asked you to do that before we left,” he says, looking at Soonyoung. “You didn’t check?”

“I checked! But it didn’t say that it was gonna rain today,” Junhui, who stayed back a bit because he was still taking a picture, says before zooming past them. “Soonyoung-ah, hurry up! I have to save my camera!”

Soonyoung sprints after Junhui with his arms spread open. He slips a little but Junhui catches him in time. They both burst out laughing, then continue running downhill hand in hand.

Wonwoo looks at Jihoon with an eyebrow raised. Jihoon just gives him a quick shrug. He lets out a sigh, then runs his hand through his wet hair. He follows Junhui and Soonyoung down with Jihoon next to him.

“Okay,” Wonwoo says, his voice a bit loud to cut through the sound of the rainfall, “we really have to stop.” He stops under the nearest tree. “It’s too strong and we’re not even halfway down.”

Junhui bumps into him a little when he stops. “Did none of us really bring even one umbrella?” he asks, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. It didn’t help at all.

Jihoon pokes his side. “You were the first one out this morning,” he reminds him. “You were the one who said that we had everything we needed.”

“It didn’t say that it was gonna rain today!” Junhui pouts, crossing his arm over his chest. Jihoon clicks his tongue. “So okay, no umbrella.”

“Hey guys,” Soonyoung says, making all of them look at him. He has Junhui’s camera up and pointed towards them; he takes the picture. “That’s gonna look great. I’ll keep that one.”

“Yes, because all of us wet from the rain always makes a great picture,” Wonwoo says, bumping Soonyoung with his shoulder.

“You’re the one who always says that you look good when you just finished showering,” Junhui points out. Jihoon and Soonyoung laughs. Wonwoo hits Junhui’s arm.

+++

“Are they still out?” Wonwoo asks when he returns from the bathroom, already showered and in his favorite pajama pants. Junhui is on the bed with his mountain of Polaroids, he’s writing something on one of them. He hums in response to Wonwoo’s question, not looking away from the pictures. “How long has it been?”

Soonyoung and Jihoon volunteered to go out and get the car from the shop. Wonwoo thinks Jihoon made a promise to Junhui that he’ll bring back snacks, but he was already in the shower when they were leaving so he isn’t really sure if what he heard was correct.

When Junhui looked up at him, he extended his arm and gestured for him to come over. “I think it’s almost been an hour now,” he says, taking the towel from Wonwoo’s hand and makes him sit in between his legs. “It’s not going to dry properly if you do it yourself.”

Wonwoo doesn’t protest and lets Junhui dry his hair, instead he grabs one of the stacks of Polaroids. “There’s barely any pictures of you on your favorite pile,” he says, going through a set of pictures one by one. “It’s weird.”

“I have a special stack with just my pictures.”

“Of course you do,” Wonwoo snorts, so Junhui hits the side of his head lightly. He grabs the camera from the bed and takes a quick picture of Junhui, who’s objecting to Wonwoo moving. He hands the new picture to Junhui. “You can add this to that pile.”

Junhui puts the towel down and takes the picture from Wonwoo. “All my pictures are taken by you,” he points out, placing it with the rest and takes one from the set in Wonwoo’s hand. “This is my favorite one from today.”

It’s a picture of them walking on their way down from the top – before the rain started. Junhui’s hand is on Wonwoo’s elbow, and they’re just talking. _I think I heard a cat_ , Junhui had told him at that exact moment. Wonwoo smiles at the memory, and his chest feels strangely tight.

“I think Jihoon took that one,” Junhui says, putting it back with the rest.

Wonwoo points the camera at Junhui again and takes another picture. But this time he hides it under his leg. “I’m going to start my own favorite pile,” he says when Junhui tried to take it from him.

+++

“So, I was thinking,” Wonwoo says, breaking the silence that’s settled over the car. They’ve only been driving for a while, but long enough that everyone’s getting a bit drowsy again. His and Jihoon’s plan to leave Wanju early had mostly worked, although it’s technically already almost mid-afternoon. Soonyoung took a long time saying goodbye to the old couple who owned the hostel they stayed in because he really liked them. “Let’s not go to Changwon yet.”

Soonyoung sits up and blinks his eyes rapidly, trying to feel more awake. “Where are we going?”

“Let’s just drive,” Wonwoo replies, shrugging. “See where that leads us.”

“Wonwoo,” Soonyoung starts, “we can get lost —”

“Are we really doing this?” Jihoon asks, looking at Wonwoo from the passenger seat.

“— but we have maps. So it wouldn’t be too crazy to do this.”

Wonwoo taps his fingers on the steering wheel. “We’ve been on the road for more than a week, and we’ve gone with Soonyoung’s plan, until the car broke down two days ago,” he explains. “Why don’t we continue being spontaneous for one more day?”

“Let’s do it,” Junhui says, catching Wonwoo’s eye in the rearview mirror and smiles at him.

+++

The sun was almost setting when they finally parked the car by the sea. A beautiful gradient of orange and yellow hues over the horizon welcomes them.

Soonyoung and Junhui were the first ones out of the car, running through the beach on their bare feet. Jihoon warned them that the water might be cold, but they ignored him and continued to stand where the waves hit.

“Hey,” Wonwoo pats the sand near where Jihoon’s sitting, making the sand less bulky and more comfortable to sit on. “I brought these,” he says, handing Jihoon a bottle of coke. He thanks him.

“Don’t move!” Junhui laughs. His face is behind the camera again, taking a picture of Soonyoung who’s grinning brightly.

There are only a few people around the part of the beach that they’re in. Wonwoo would be lying if he said that he wasn’t quite glad. It’s nicer to be by the sea and actually hear the sound of the waves. The sound of the sea.

Wonwoo finds himself laughing when Junhui splashes water at Soonyoung, but argues that he has a camera so Soonyoung shouldn’t splash back. Soonyoung, unrelenting and cheeky, wipes his saltwater-drenched hands on Junhui’s face instead which makes them both laugh.

“You should tell him,” Jihoon suddenly says, drinking from his bottle. He’s looking at the direction where their friends are.

“What?” Wonwoo turns to him.

“Tell him before he leaves,” Jihoon replies, hitting the back of his head. He cries out because of the pain. “Stop being an idiot, Jeon Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo blinks at him while soothing the sore spot on his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve been waiting for what,” Jihoon looks at Wonwoo, “2 years already?”

“I don’t —” he cuts himself off, unable to find words to use to answer Jihoon.

“Tell him,” Jihoon repeats. Wonwoo flinches a little when Jihoon moves his hand, anticipating another smack. But he only puts it on his shoulder. “Maybe he’d stay,” he says carefully.

Wonwoo keeps quiet for a moment. “I don’t want him to stay just for me,” he replies, feeling the heaviness in his chest when he thinks about the following year.

“You’re right, I was being selfish,” Jihoon sighs, he looks at Junhui and Soonyoung again – they’re knee-deep into the water now. He scratches the back of his neck. “I just…I’m not a fan of the idea of being so far away from him. I’ve gotten so used of taking care of him, and maybe I don’t mind it when he takes care of us too.”

“I know,” Wonwoo confesses, a minute later to let what Jihoon said sink in. “I can’t imagine not seeing him everyday.”

Jihoon elbows him lightly. “I can’t believe that you’ve waited this long,” he snorts. “Get a fucking move on already.”

“I almost did,” he lets out an airy laugh. “Didn’t really work out.”

“ _Ah!_ That’s what happened in Anyang!” Jihoon exclaims, voice loud enough that Soonyoung looked towards them. He smacks Wonwoo’s arm repeatedly. “I bet you completely chickened out when you were about to kiss him.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Wonwoo hits him with his elbow in retaliation. He wanted to tell Jihoon that he was interrupted but he’s already thrown his head back laughing.

+++

The car’s mostly quiet. Wonwoo’s humming along with the radio to keep himself awake. Everyone fell asleep. It was already dark when they decided to leave, but not late enough for Junhui to request for them to stay a little more and just look at the stars overhead. _I’ve never seen this much since I left home_ , he’d told them and Wonwoo couldn’t say no.

Soonyoung, who’s on the passenger seat this time, stirs awake about three hours into the drive to Changwon. He quietly yawns and shakes his head — trying to wake himself up properly.

Maybe it’s because the other two are asleep in the backseat, but Soonyoung’s movements became very careful, unhurried and quiet, when he reaches for the sharpie and uncaps it. He takes one of the Polaroids from the dashboard and starts writing on it. After scribbling, he goes through the glove compartment to find the tape he stashed there — Wonwoo remembers the day it happened, they were rushing to finish a paper but Soonyoung’s couldn’t find the stapler and just taped his papers. He sticks the polaroid over the radio. When he sits back, Wonwoo sees that he captioned their picture from today at the beach with four stars.

“That was a good idea,” he says, voice too quiet that Wonwoo had to make sure it was him who’s really speaking and not someone on the radio. “We should go to the beach more this year.”

“We can drive to different ones every few months,” Wonwoo suggests. Soonyoung hums in response, closing his eyes again. “Thank you,” he says when the quiet settles in again.

“For what?” Soonyoung asks, opening his eyes to look at Wonwoo.

“Convincing all of us to do this.”

Soonyoung laughs softly while patting Wonwoo’s arm. “It shall go down in history as my finest moment.”

+++

“Tell me if you need anything else, okay?” Wonwoo’s mom takes out another blanket from the cabinet and hands it to Junhui, who’s already lying down on the futon she laid out for them. He thanks her with a soft smile. He’s definitely her favorite one. “I’ll be in the other room.”

“Mom, I can do it,” Wonwoo assures her, kissing her good night before ushering her outside his room. He knows that she’s had a long day too yet she stayed up until they got there safely. “You should get some sleep.”

She says good night to them one more time before closing the door behind her.

“Do we have anything planned tomorrow?” Jihoon asks, fluffing the pillow one more time. He won over Soonyoung when they played for the bed.

“Absolutely nothing,” Soonyoung yawns.

“I think it’s okay if we just sleep in tomorrow,” Wonwoo says before turning the light off and lying down in between Junhui and Soonyoung.

Jihoon does a little dance and a cheer from the bed. “I’d kiss you right now, but I’m already lying down and ready to fall asleep.”

“Save it for more important moments, Jihoon-ah,” Wonwoo laughs along with Soonyoung and Junhui.

+++

Wonwoo vaguely remembers waking up a couple of times during the night, hearing Junhui laughing softly to himself, so it isn’t much of a surprise when he blinks awake and sees him on his phone with his earphones on. Junhui always watching different Chinese variety shows when he finds himself unable to fall asleep at night.

“Hey,” Wonwoo keeps his voice almost silent, tipping his chin carefully on Junhui’s shoulder to see what’s on the screen. It is a Chinese variety show. “You’re still awake.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Junhui replies, voice as quiet as his. He takes out his earphones and tries to look at Wonwoo, but couldn’t because of their position. “Why are you up already?”

Wonwoo hums softly. “Could hear you laughing while I was sleeping.”

Junhui covers his mouth with his hand immediately. “I’m so sorry,” he says, voice still soft but muffled.

“It’s okay,” Wonwoo laughs as quietly as he can, then removes Junhui’s hand from his face. “Do you want to eat anything?”

“I just don’t feel tired,” Junhui sighs, clicking the lock button on his phone. Wonwoo feels him sag a little when he puts it down.

Wonwoo thinks for a moment then asks, “do you want to go somewhere with me?”

Junhui tries to turn his head again, close enough to Wonwoo’s face that he can feel Junhui’s breath on his cheek. “But it’s late,” he replies.

Wonwoo does a half-shrug. “Think of it as extremely early,” he says, smiling and already getting up from the floor.

+++

“You want me,” Junhui asks, unfastening his seatbelt so he can lean forward and look out of the windshield better, “to go up there at 4 in the morning?”

Wonwoo parked the car a few meters up Anmingogae Hill, and he tries his best not to laugh at his companion’s reaction. “Where’s your spirit of adventure, Junnie?” he teases, unfastening his seatbelt too.

“Don’t use cheesy lines to convince me to go up there this late,” he replies, glaring at Wonwoo. “And my spirit of adventure is perfectly fine staying here, in the comfort of this car.”

“Just come with me,” he laughs, getting out of the car, then puts his jacket on. “You’ll love it.”

+++

Wonwoo starts feeling the cold nipping on his nose by the time they’re nearing the top of the hill. Junhui pulls him closer then puts an arm around him when he sees him rubbing his hands together — it wasn’t really helping, but he wanted to try at least. He reminds Wonwoo that it was his idea so he’s lost all privileges to complain about how cold it was up there. Wonwoo bumps him with his shoulder lightly, laughing along with him.

“It really is freezing up here though,” Junhui admits, rubbing his hand on Wonwoo’s arm. Wonwoo can feel how warm it is despite the two layers he’s wearing. “But it’s really beautiful.”

“We can just sit here,” Wonwoo points at an empty bench. There are no people around this time of the day, he’s sure that every bench situated every few hundred meters must be free.

Junhui leans back on his seat and looks ahead where the city lights are still glimmering — it’s not as bright but you can still make out where people still must be awake. He looks at Wonwoo, who’s pulling at his sleeves to cover his hands. “Why’d you bring me here?”

“It’s the perfect spot to watch the sunrise,” he replies, then pulls out a stack of Polaroids and a sharpie from the pocket of his jacket, “and continue going through all of these.”

Junhui takes them from Wonwoo’s hand with an excited smile on his face. “I think I’m running low on film again after today’s drive,” he says, flipping through the pictures.

“I bought you a new set when we were in Anyang,” Wonwoo blinks at him. He doesn’t know if Junhui’s being serious. “That was barely a week ago, Junnie! I told you not to use them all so quickly.”

“I’m documenting,” he replies, smiling innocently. When Wonwoo narrows his eyes at him, he starts waving the pictures in front of Wonwoo. “You can’t expect me not to use the films.”

Wonwoo clicks his tongue. “It’s 2018, you have a working phone,” he pokes Junhui’s cheek. “Why don’t you use that for documenting?”

“But look at his one!” He takes one picture from the pile and hands it to Wonwoo.

It’s a picture of Jihoon and Soonyoung from today. It’s just the two of them, standing knee-deep in the water, laughing because of what Soonyoung said. Wonwoo thinks it was a story about him, but he can’t really remember. What he does remember is seeing Junhui take the picture and telling them immediately about it after it develops.

“If I used a phone, I wouldn’t have captured the genuine emotions they had at that time,” he explains, his hands and arms flailing in wide gestures. Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile at him. “I mean, we can take a lot of shots using a phone, and somehow wouldn’t that make the picture less genuine?”

“I didn’t think you thought of it that way,” Wonwoo takes the picture from Junhui and inspects it. He grabs the sharpie and uncaps it. _180616 by Junnie_ , he writes on the back of the picture.

“I only realized that the day after my birthday,” Junhui laughs, his eyes twinkling — it’s almost like they’re reflecting the city lights ahead. “Hey look! It’s a picture of you,” he says, handing Wonwoo another picture. “You look cute.”

He’s smiling in the picture and he remembers Junhui taking this too. He told him about the one time he accidentally ruined his baby brother’s sand castle because he thought it was just lumpy sand.

“Does this go on your favorite pile?” he asks, handing it back to Junhui.

“Definitely,” Junhui smiles at him. He takes the sharpie from Wonwoo and scribbles _Wonwoo_ with a drawing of a cat at the end on the picture before putting it at the bottom of the pile.

Wonwoo wanted to tease him for it but stopped himself because Junhui started speaking again.

“I think I’m gonna ask the kids to help me decorate the album. I should put these in an album, right?” he rambles, while picking at his lips. “I won’t normally do that, but I kind of want to go back to these pictures 10 years from now and remember these two weeks. We can look at them together and it will be fun. I have a lot a lot of hilarious pictures.”

“You should,” Wonwoo replies. It would be fun to see these pictures in 10 years’ time. “But don’t let Soonyoung and Seokmin near it. They’ll spill glitter over the whole thing.”

“Wouldn’t that look nice?” Junhui ponders. He stopped picking on his lips and starts biting his lower lip instead. “No, glitter’s too much. Maybe I can find something online…What?” he says when he notices Wonwoo. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Wonwoo brushes his finger on Junhui’s cheek. “You look cute when you’re rambling,” he answers. But he doesn’t mean to be so straightforward, that’s why his breathing starts to become uneven again.

“What are you talking about?” Junhui laughs, then traces the spot where Wonwoo brushes his finger. “You’re being weird today.”

“You know what,” Wonwoo clears his throat, trying to adjust to the feeling in his chest — and trying to escape the hole he just dug for himself. “Our dad used to bring Bohyuk and I up here when we were kids. We always talk about our problems over ice cream then we’ll feel better.”

Junhui looks at him with his head tilted to the side a little. “Is something bothering you?” he asks carefully, voice soft and warm.

Wonwoo shakes his head, then continues, “he also brought my mom here on their first day, and they always come up here on their anniversary.

“Do you plan on taking someone here for your first date?”

“We can go somewhere else if you’d like,” he replies, the words leaving his lips before he could assess them carefully. He made the hole even deeper, and he thinks there’s absolutely no way out now.

Junhui blinks at him. Imagining him laughing after hearing that was a lot easier, Wonwoo thinks to himself. “What?”

“I uh,” Wonwoo clears his throat, “we can go somewhere else on our first date.”

“Our…first date?” he asks carefully, looking right into Wonwoo’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo breathes. “If that’s alright with you.”

“You’re pranking me, right?” Junhui laughs, almost breathless. “Is Soonyoung out there recording? Because this isn’t a good joke. I’m —”

“It’s just the two of us, Junnie.”

“— not okay with this being a joke because I really like you,” Junhui says, blinking his eyes rapidly as if he’s trying not to cry.

Wonwoo takes Junhui’s hand in his. “Jun-ah, I’m serious,” he starts, his voice sounds less stable after hearing what Junhui said. He’s sure that his head is going to explode any second now. “I’m completely serious about this.”

“Wonwoo-ya…”

“It’s alright if you say no to the date. But I just wanted to let you know,” he swallows the lump in his throat, then breathes. “I just wanted to let you know because I don’t want to tell you over the phone when I won’t be able to hug you…or kiss you.”

It’s quiet for a long moment. Wonwoo’s mind is in complete chaos, he wants to say something but he’s afraid that he might say something and make the situation more complicated. He wants to say something that would make it easier for both of them to process what just happened. But, it’s the first time he’s even heard his own feelings out loud.

There’s nothing easy about this.

“Look,” Wonwoo says, cutting through the silence, and points where the city is because he noticed that the sky’s color was starting to change already.

Junhui looks up slowly, still fiddling with Wonwoo’s fingers. He waits for the sun to peak out of the horizon before he says, “It’s already rising.”

+++

“I’m going to melt,” Jihoon groans from the passenger seat, and Soonyoung promptly shushes him and slaps his hand away from the air conditioner buttons. It hasn’t been more than 10 minutes since they left Wonwoo’s childhood home — there were a lot of promises to go back soon to Wonwoo’s mom – and since Soonyoung decided that they needed to drive with their windows down. _It’s a nice day_ , he’d told them. But it’s a very _hot_ day.

“We’re not going to roll up the windows,” Soonyoung tells him, and Jihoon groans again. “We’ll be in Busan in less than an hour. Let’s enjoy the fresh air.”

“I’m going to throw you out of the window,” Jihoon warns, fanning himself with his hand. Junhui laughs beside him, and hides his face behind his hand.

“Okay, let’s calm down,” Wonwoo says, leaning forward to fix himself in between his friends. He pats both Soonyoung and Jihoon’s head. “No one’s going to throw anyone out of the window. And today’s going to be a good day.”

He doesn’t agree that they should continue driving with the windows down, but he does agree about it being a good day. These two just needs to compromise with each other to let make that a hundred percent true.

“You’re annoyingly cheerful,” Jihoon grumbles, looking at him with one eyebrow higher than the other. “What’s wrong with you today?”

Wonwoo shrugs and smiles at him brightly. “No more complaining.”

When he leans back in his seat, Soonyoung and Jihoon start another argument and it’s about Jihoon needing to get his driver’s license if he wants to have decisions on their next trip which led to Jihoon telling him that he’d rather stay at home. Junhui lets out a lengthy sigh. Wonwoo looks at him as he laughs softly, and takes his hand to interlace their fingers together.

They haven’t talked about what happened the other day, but Wonwoo feels like it has been easier to be more affectionate around Junhui without feeling like his chest is going to rip open. It still makes him feel nervous, but he likes being able to hold Junhui’s hand a lot.

+++

It’s late when Soonyoung parks the car in front of the pub where Jihoon’s friend’s band is playing in. Soonyoung remembered that Jihoon’s friend invited him to watch them play before they went on the trip and included it in his mental itinerary.

The place looks crowded, as expected on a late Friday night.

They would have arrived sooner but Soonyoung and Junhui insisted that they go and have a look around Gamcheon Culture Village when they got to Busan. They made a strong case about spontaneity and used it against Wonwoo. He couldn’t say no after that. But then, they were lost for about half an hour before Wonwoo found a painting that helped him remember which direction they came from. He was able to use that as a loophole against their solid case.

Wonwoo checks the time on his phone and hopes that they haven’t missed the performance.

“I don’t feel like going anymore,” Jihoon announces, his lips pressed as a hard thin line, while Soonyoung’s mid-unfastening his seatbelt. Jihoon takes out his phone and types. “Didn’t you want to go to this restaurant, Soonyoung-ah?”

“What…?” Soonyoung blinks at him and takes his hand off the belt. It reels back to its spot on this own. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“I just don’t feel like going to the gig anymore,” Jihoon sighs, putting his phone down on his lap. Wonwoo puts a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder, but he just looks at him with a sad smile on his face. “Let’s just go to the restaurant and stuff our faces. I’ll feel so much happier.”

Wonwoo pats Soonyoung’s shoulder and nods at him. Soonyoung puts on his seatbelt again and backs the car out of the parking space. He asks Junhui to look for the restaurant on a map and navigate for him.

+++

“I don’t know how you find these places!” Junhui takes another spoonful of the broth. He hasn’t put his utensil down since the food got served on their table. “Soonyoung-ah, you’re really the best.”

Soonyoung grins proudly. “Can you repeat that? I need to get it on video,” he says, fiddling with his phone. Wonwoo’s sure that his camera app is really open because Jihoon’s shaking his head disapprovingly at Soonyoung, but he’s smiling.

“Just eat your food,” Jihoon laughs when Soonyoung hits record. He swats Soonyoung’s arm, then takes the phone away from Soonyoung and hands him his utensils.

Soonyoung’s complaints gets cut off by their server showing up with another bowl of samgyetang and asks if they need anything else. She sounds cheerful despite working on a very late shift. It’s nearly eleven in the evening when Wonwoo checks his phone.

Junhui puts his spoon down and announces that he’s going to take a little break from eating — he ate an entire bowl, he reasons later. He pokes at Wonwoo’s leg, because he’s currently squeezed into the corner of the booth, head resting on the back of their seat, and Soonyoung’s too busy retelling Jihoon a story about Seokmin and Chan that happened months ago (to be fair, it really was a funny story) for them to even notice. Wonwoo shifts when he does, and he lets his hand slide down to place his hand on Wonwoo’s thigh.

Wonwoo places his free hand on top of Junhui’s and gives it a squeeze while he continues to eat with the other.

“Junnie!” Soonyoung pouts, and makes Junhui and Wonwoo jump a little. He pushes the bowl towards Junhui. “I ordered more because I thought you were gonna eat more.”

Junhui takes his hand off Wonwoo’s thigh and grabs his utensils again. “Okay, okay, I’m eating,” he replies, taking a spoonful of the newly cooked broth and blows on it to cool it down little. “You’re going to have to carry me to the car if I can’t walk because I’m too full.”

Soonyoung promises that he will with a wink. Jihoon grimaces at them.

+++

“It’s unlike him to bail out on a plan,” Soonyoung voices his thoughts out loud, then leans his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “I mean, he always tries to get out of them, but if it’s been decided, he’s always there.”

It’s been quite a while since they got back from the restaurant — all of them have already showered and are currently wearing their comfiest clothes. They’re staying in Jihoon’s childhood home for the night (Soonyoung was the one most excited to visit for the first time and he completely charmed Jihoon’s mom even if she’s almost exactly the same as her son), and there’s a door leading to a small balcony in Jihoon’s room. Soonyoung and Wonwoo decided that the night is too nice not to stay out, even for a little while, and talk.

“I’m sure he has a rational reason,” Wonwoo says, running a hand through his damp hair. He didn’t dry it enough. “Why don’t you go and ask him?”

Soonyoung makes a small noise of complaint. “I don’t know if I should bring it up,” he sighs. “What if he decides to leave me in the middle of the road when I do? Wonwoo-ya, I don’t think I have enough money to buy a bus ticket.”

Junhui pokes his head out of the balcony door as Wonwoo starts laughing at Soonyoung’s ridiculous idea, making them both look up. He’s almost as tall as the doorframe. “Hey,” he greets them, “Soonyoungie, Jihoon told me to ask you to come downstairs. He said something about wanting to buy something for the convenience store.”

“Why couldn’t you go with him?” Soonyoung grumbles, but he’s already on his feet. Wonwoo tells him to talk to Jihoon about it, but he just waves it off and reminds him about the bus ticket.

Junhui gives them an odd look before he shrugs. “He just told me to ask you, and I did,” he replies, then moves to the side to let Soonyoung, who’s still grumbling about Jihoon ruining a perfectly good conversation, pass by him. “Soonyoungie, can you get me something from the store?”

Soonyoung looks back for a brief moment before humming in response. “Okay, I know what to get you. Don’t worry,” he says before closing the door behind him, leaving Junhui out in the balcony with Wonwoo.

They haven’t been alone together since that morning in Changwon. Wonwoo remembers how quiet the drive back to his house was and how hard it was to figure out how he’s going to be around Junhui because he’s hyperaware of his feelings. It is good that they’ve found that holding each other’s hand, or just touching each other really, makes it easier. And it would be a lie if he said that he didn’t find the extra attention and affection from Junhui enjoyable because he absolutely does. But he’s still trying to figure out how he wants to talk to Junhui about that morning because he doesn’t like the idea of sneaking around just to be able each other’s hands.

Junhui takes a quick look over the railing before he turns to Wonwoo and sits next to him.

“So, we think Jihoon has some big reason why he didn’t want to go to the gig tonight,” Wonwoo shifts in his spot, finding a more comfortable way to sit — it’s with his legs stretched out. Junhui continues to look at him and waits for him to continue. “Soonyoung thinks that maybe he had some falling out with his friend that he didn’t mention before we got here,” he continues, “but I think he was just hungry.”

Junhui snorts and slaps Wonwoo’s arm. “He was a bit grumpy earlier,” he replies and Wonwoo starts laughing with Junhui, agreeing with him. Jihoon indeed had his I’m-hungry-frown on their way to Busan today.

Soonyoung almost lost a finger when he poked Jihoon’s cheek, asking him if he was hungry. He didn’t try to comment about the frown for the rest of the drive.

“Jun-ah,” Wonwoo says after their laughter died down. He didn’t realize how close Junhui is until he looks at him and feel his breath on his skin. “I was thinking about the other day. I know I said that it’s alright if you said no, but —”

Wonwoo barely had the chance to come up with what he wanted to say next. Not that any of that matters anymore, his trail of thoughts got completely cut off because Junhui’s kissing him, pressing him against the wall. Junhui’s mouth is warm and tastes like toothpaste — his favorite one that he always asks Wonwoo to buy — when Wonwoo licks into it. He feels Junhui’s hand trembling, so he takes it into his and squeezes it. Junhui relaxes a little.

“Wonwoo-ya,” Junhui says, almost breathless, when Wonwoo starts mouthing at his jaw. Somehow, in the middle of the kiss, Junhui ended up on Wonwoo’s lap. He makes a noise when Wonwoo kisses the space between his neck and shoulder.

“It’s really going to suck if you did say no,” Wonwoo says, lips still pressed against Junhui’s. He pulls back a little, just enough so he can blink to focus on Junhui again. “Because I think I really like kissing you.”

The sound of the bedroom door closing makes them both jump.

“We come bearing gifts,” Soonyoung’s voice is loud from inside the room. Junhui climbs off Wonwoo’s lap immediately. “What are you guys doing?” he asks when he pops his head out of the balcony door.

Wonwoo lets out a breathy laugh and pats Junhui’s thigh who’s hiding his face on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “We’re just enjoying the night,” he replies and Junhui’s whole body shakes as he tries to suppress his giggles.

Soonyoung narrows his eyes at them. “I hate it when you two get along, it’s creepy,” he raises a bag of food that they got from the convenience store, “but you do have to get inside and eat these with us.”

Both of them start laughing when Soonyoung goes back inside the room. Wonwoo pressed a kiss on top of Junhui’s head, then gives Junhui’s hand another squeeze. Wonwoo wonders if planning will ever work with the two of them.

+++

“I dated him when I was in high school,” Jihoon suddenly blurts out loud, effectively startling all of his friends who are almost half-asleep. “I haven’t seen him since high school graduation —”

Wonwoo blinks his eyes quickly, he needs to be completely awake for this. He turns to Jihoon, who’s lying next to him. He wanted to see what kind of face he’s making now but he can barely make out his features in the dark. He doesn’t know if Jihoon even has his eyes open or not.

“— I just left without saying goodbye,” he sighs. “That’s why I couldn’t see him today.”

There’s a pause, where it’s just completely silent inside the room. It feels like everyone held their breaths while they digest the information that was just relayed on them.

Wonwoo licks his lips, and attempts to say something but Soonyoung beats him to it.

“Oh thank god,” he breathes, “I kept thinking about worst case scenarios. This isn’t the worst case scenario. I actually wondered if you two killed someone and buried the body together and never spoke of it ever again.”

There’s another pause, but Wonwoo can hear Junhui giggling already before all of them burst out laughing.

+++

“So, we’re going back today?” Junhui asks, leaning back on his seat and procrastinating on putting his seatbelt — unwilling to go back home just yet. Soonyoung leans over to his side and fastens it himself despite being on Junhui’s side.

Jihoon turns on his seat and looks at his friends. “Unless you guys want to be completely broke,” he says, in a scary warning tone. “No? Then yes, we’re going back today.”

Wonwoo would have preferred to stay inside the bubble that they have created around them while they are on this trip, but Jihoon is right. They need to go back before they completely use a larger sum of their savings on gas and junk food (and a lot of expensive restaurants because Soonyoung wanted to try them) — it’s mostly going to be the same when they get back, but minus the gas expenses because often they opt to take the bus; it’s easier to get a quick nap on the bus before their classes.

“We’re gonna have to live off Mingyu and Minghao’s fridge to survive the first month,” Wonwoo comments, adjusting his seat because Soonyoung always moves it when it’s his turn to drive.

“I’m sure they’ll understand,” Soonyoung replies. “We were good to them when we saw them last week, weren’t we?”

“You got Mingyu drunk,” Jihoon counters immediately.

“He made me eat half of my birthday cake! Doesn’t that make us even?” Soonyoung grumbles a few more complaints under his breath and Junhui pants his arm to console him. “I won’t be able to eat cake for a while.”

“Even the memory of that moment makes me feel sick,” Wonwoo grimaces as he drives the car away from Jihoon’s house before anyone (Soonyoung and Junhui) pitches an argument about their trip being cut short.

+++

Not an hour into the drive, the car falls relatively completely silent again. No one has fallen asleep, but the only noise inside the car is coming from the radio where Jihoon’s new playlist is playing. Wonwoo finds it hard not to feel sleepy.

Soonyoung clears his throat and starts, “I was thinking —”

“Don’t exhaust yourself,” Wonwoo says, and earns a slap on his arm from Junhui. He’s trying to stay awake. He’s actually grateful that Soonyoung started talking, but it was right there.

“— I know how we’re gonna save up money when we get back,” he continues, deliberately ignoring Wonwoo and focuses his attention on Junhui and Jihoon, who are both looking at him.

“Not go on a road trip ever again?” Jihoon suggests.

“No, shut up,” Soonyoung replies, he sounds serious. “We can cut on expenses if we move into your apartment.”

“Not happening,” Jihoon deadpans. He turns in seat more so he could properly glare at Soonyoung. Somehow Wonwoo knows that Jihoon’s accusing Soonyoung that this was his plan all along: take them on this trip and suggest that they all move in together because it sounds like it’s the most logical solution. Or Wonwoo could be reading too much into it.

“Come oooooooooooooooon,” Soonyoung pouts, shifting from his serious tone. Jihoon narrows his eyes further and his frown goes deeper. Wonwoo couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s our last year, don’t you want to have at least a year living with all three of us?”

“No,” he replies firmly. “We’re going to end up killing each other when we get stressed.”

Soonyoung makes a defeated noise when Jihoon turns his back on him. He decides to poke Wonwoo’s arm instead because Jihoon chose to ignore him. “I’ll put my bed in the living room, we don’t need a sofa anyway. And Jun can move into your room —”

Wonwoo would have choked on his drink if he had one. Jihoon starts snickering beside him.

“What? Jun’s moving where?” Junhui looks at Soonyoung, blinking his eyes so fast that it’s almost comical.

Soonyoung puts an arm around him. “Wonwoo’s room,” he replies, grinning at Junhui cheekily. “Come on, we all know that’s where you two are headed, let’s just put a move on it. It might take Wonwoo four more years to ask you to move in with him,” he hits the side of Wonwoo’s head lightly, “you two have held off long enough.”

Junhui looks at his friends, eyes blown wide in disbelief. “How —”

Soonyoung and Jihoon snorts (almost) simultaneously. “You’re not as good at sneaking around as you thought you were,” Soonyoung sighs. “Holding hands under the table, really?”

Jihoon laughs so loud that it made Wonwoo feel miserable. “We’re around each other the whole day, it’s impossible for us not to notice,” he explains, still bubbling with laughter. He gives Wonwoo a look. “Also, try making out without leaving marks next time.”

Wonwoo groans and knocks his forehead on the steering wheel — he’s actually grateful that they’re waiting for a green light at the moment — when Soonyoung squeals in delight and tries to look for the mark on Junhui.

+++

“Hey wait,” Junhui gasps, then points at Wonwoo’s wallet, “that’s my picture!”

They’re already out of Busan, but they got caught in a very heavy late afternoon traffic. When they were on their second hour, Wonwoo cried uncle and decided that he’s going to take the nearest exit so they can find somewhere to stop over for a while. Jihoon actually thought it was his best decision of the day because he’s getting hungry. So now, they’re in line at the cashier of a McDonald’s to order food for four.

“Mhmmm?” Wonwoo looks at the picture that Junhui is talking about. It’s the picture he took of Junhui on his birthday — the one from the Chinese restaurant. It’s been in his wallet since. “It’s my favorite. You’re never getting it.”

“No!” he protests, attempting to get ahold of the wallet. “Throw it away!”

Wonwoo catches Junhui’s hand and uses his other hand to hide the wallet behind him. “Oh, you would rather a random person get this picture of you instead of me keeping it?” he asks, and Junhui pouts as he ponders. He eventually shakes his head no. Wonwoo smiles. “Didn’t think so.”

“I have better pictures,” Junhui grumbles, he’s still pouting and it takes most of Wonwoo’s energy to stop himself from wanting to kiss Junhui. His eyes light up as he looks at Wonwoo and tells him, “I can give you a bunch of pictures and pile them over that one!”

Wonwoo sighs and squeezes Junhui’s hand instead.

+++

Junhui keeps up a constant stream of chatter once they’re back on the road, sorting through the pictures on the dash that were left behind narrating each one. Remember when Soonyoung; Jihoon looked the cutest that day; Wonwoo was the one grumpy that night because he was hungry from driving all day. And it’s nice, hearing Junhui’s voice make the last drive of their trip more comfortable.

“This one’s from Soonyoung’s birthday,” Junhui says, holding the picture up. It’s a picture of him eating the cake, there are doodles on it and Jihoon’s handwriting. “I think I’ll get some of my favorites framed.”

Junhui continues to narrate and to scribble almost indecipherable captions on each picture. He makes everyone laugh when he talks about some of the most ridiculous ones (e.g. a picture of Soonyoung’s nostrils and Jihoon’s eye).

They’re nearly at the apartment when Soonyoung decides to interrupt, leaning forward to be situated in the middle of Junhui and Wonwoo’s seats. “So, I heard that there’s this popular dessert restaurant just a few minutes out of Pohang,” he says, voice almost sounding shy. It’s his you-have-to-say-yes voice. They’re all familiar. “I think it’s a good way to bookend the trip and celebrate us moving into your apartment.”

Wonwoo chances a quick look at Jihoon, and he has his arms folded over his chest but he’s smiling, already conceding to Soonyoung’s wishes. “We should try eating there before we start living off cheap good again,” Wonwoo says, relenting.

“How much food do we need if there’s four people in the apartment?” Jihoon asks, letting out an exaggerated sigh.

There’s a short moment when Soonyoung became completely quiet and waited for someone to tell him that it was all a joke, but no one spoke so he cheers and places sloppy kisses on all their cheeks.

“The adventure continues!” Soonyoung tells Wonwoo which direction he should turn the car to.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so originally this fic was going to be a part of the 96z ficfest "Swimming Fools" but I never got to work on it until later this year. It's been 6 months, but I'm glad that I finished it. And I'm happy that I did. For everyone who stuck around until the end, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this mess of a fic.
> 
> Mochi, I'm sorry if this is the only fic I could write for you at the moment. BUT I think you'd be happy to hear that maybe I'm not going to procrastinate and dedicate a few more fics to you *coughs* with your other favorite pairings *coughs*
> 
> Find me on twitter [@lunespring](twitter.com/lunespring)


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